Eri's Game
by MovieVillain
Summary: During week 1, Eri is looking for death to strike her so that she can be with Shiki again. She ended up getting into the Reaper's Game in week 2.
1. Looking to Die

The living and the dead... They're two kinds of people that exist. As for the dead, they also exist. When people die, they become spirits who either went to the afterlife or stay here on Earth where they could watch the living. For my case, I could get the feeling of someone watching over me. The truth is, when you have a best friend, you don't just say something that he/she might took it wrong it the wrong way. My name is Eri, and I have a best friend that took my word the wrong way.

Her name is Shiki, Shiki Misaki...

I remembered the time that when I first met her, she created a black stuffed cat. This is the moment when we talked about it.

"Nice cat," I said with a smiling look.

Shiki turns her attention to me. She looks timid by my view. "Oh... thank you,"

"Did you give it a name?" I asked.

"Mr. Mew," was the reply.

Mr. Mew... I could say that's a good name for him. In fact, he looks like a cat so that's an evidence that it is a good name for him.

I extended my hand to shake hands with Shiki. She also did the same and we shake hands.

"My name is Eri," I said.

"My name is Shiki Misaki. Call me Shiki," she said.

From that point, this is the day we became best friends for the rest of our lives. That is until tragedy strikes between us. One day, I saw Shiki couldn't come up with a good design. So I told her the words that she just took it the wrong way, "You're not meant to be a designer". I thought these words would cheer her up because she couldn't think of a design, but I was wrong, it didn't. That was the last time I saw her until the day I heard the news that puts me into depression: she died in an accident.

The next day, I was about to come up with a design. While I was about to start, I felt tears coming out of my eyes. I was feeling sad of what happened to Shiki back that day, and she died without for me to apologize for what I said. Because of that, I quit on being a designer. If I could something to do, I should be an activist. What should I protest on? The economy, that's what. As I looked at the Shibuya before me, there are people that really are good, but they are also people that aren't really good. Therefore, I must change their ways.

But...

The truth is, I joined just to die. My plan is to die by one of the bad people while I'm doing this.

For this day, I stopped a raid from a warehouse done by a group of criminals. Their leader saw me and pulls out a gun in front of me. At that time, I wasn't carrying a gun so this is the time I should die, and be with Shiki so that I could apologize to her.

Just then, some mysterious force just pulled me away and left me out of the warehouse. So I was right, there is someone watching over me trying to die. I don't know who it is, but I won't be stopped until I got what I want.

As I thought back at what happened, I'm gonna need a gun. I entered to a gun shop at town and started to train on how to use a gun. If I wanted to fight, I have to train myself so I went to a dojo shop and started training myself in fighting with my hands and feet. Now it's time to test those skills out. As I walked around town, I see Funky Fashion getting robbed. This is the opportunity to test out the skills.

"Hey, lady," I said talking to the female criminal. "Isn't it bad to rob the place where people buy clothes?"

"So?" she retorted. "What is it to you then, little girl? Why don't run along and play your games somewhere else."

I started to get angry. I was insulted. To think this criminal has the nerve to call me a little girl and tell me to leave. Well, I'm not gonna accept that. I made a fist on my right hand, ready to fight. "Excuse me?"

"Huh?"

I jumped up and start punching her, sending her to the ground.

"Hey, what are you trying to do? Are you picking a fight with me?" she raised her voice at me in anger. As I looked at her, she got punched at her jaw.

I replied, "Well, you started it. You left me no choice." As she points her gun at me, I kicked it off her hand, sending it to her face. Now it's my turn. I pulled out a gun which is a pistol from my right hand and start to point at her.

"You know, little girls shouldn't be carrying guns. It's dangerous."

I took a shot at the right side of her chest. She's obviously in pain from this. "I know."

"You sadistic little girl! You'll pay for this!"

"No," I pointed the gun at her head. "You're the one who's going to pay for all this. With your life, that is." As I looked at her, she looks scared.

"Okay," she started. "You win. I'll just leave." Then she run away in fear of me. That is what I want for criminals: fear me.

I turned my attention to the shopkeeper. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Thank you for saving me."

_It's all in a day's work. Now I'm ready to get my death wish._ I thought.

Four days later, I was planning a raid on the group of criminals I fought the last time. This time, I bought a gun. As I entered, I pulled out my gun and start shooting on the criminals one by one until I got to their leader. This is what I called "I got nothing to lose" kind of attack. As a criminal tries to attack me with a knife, I grabbed his hand, blocking it, and I punched his face, knocking him out. Another one comes from behind, but I stopped him with a kick to his face. Now I'm ready to confront their leader.

"So," he said. "You're trying to die, huh?"

"Uh huh," I pointed the gun to him and so did he. We are prepared to shoot at each other.

BOOM!

I shot him in the chest and so did he. I knew he'll die, I'm sure of it. I finally got what I wanted. As I close my eyes, I'm ready to go to the afterlife.

When I open my eyes, I woke up to my bedroom. I looked at my chest, and it's healed. I guess the mysterious force once again foiled my death. I swear when I found out who this is, I'm gonna give it a piece of my mind.

The next day, I decided not to make an attempt on my life. As usual, I woke up, take a bath, have breakfast, and go out if I wanted to. I went to the Scramble Crossing to have a talk with Mina about all this. I told her about my side of the story; the last part ended with me saying that Shiki is my best friend even now and I want her back so that we can be a team again.

"Goodbye, Eri, it's nice talking to you," said Mina.

"You too," I said looking cheerful. I look cheerful in the outside, but in the inside, I wasn't. What I just did is a ploy to make sure what does the mysterious force think of what I have to say. Maybe the story touches that it will decide to let me get my death wish for tomorrow. I'm betting I won't fail and it won't stop me again from dying.


	2. Death Wish Granted

As I woke up, I looked at my window. My thought for today is, _Today, I will get my death wish._ I'm betting I will get it and the mysterious force will fail to stop me. As I took a bath and put on my usual clothes, the clothes that Shiki used to see me wear, I came to the kitchen to have my breakfast, as usual. As I left the house, I went to do my activist act again. This time, I'll attack some criminal that has connections to the cops. I went to the Scramble Crossing to go to a skyscraper as I looked at my target. I entered the building and have a chat with the receptionist.

"What do you want, miss?" she asked me. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh, yeah, I could say that," I said. "In case you need to see the list, my name is on the list. Can I see it?"

"Why of course, little girl."

The receptionist took the list and gives it to me. She looks suspicious of me asking to see her list of clients. I could tell by the look on her face.

"Here it is!" I yelled. "My name is Anne." I just stole one of the names of the clients. I just got to get on with my plan. I added, "I'm here for an appointment with Mr. Hiryu."

The receptionist replied, "Oh yeah, he's waiting for you. He's at the topmost floor of this building. You'll find his office with his name labelled there."

"Thanks," I said. I looked at the receptionist. I could tell she's suspicious of me.

As I walked to that floor, I saw the number of employees working there. I found Mr. Hiryu's office and when I enter, he isn't there. I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets here.

I waited for 4 hours and he's still not here. Where did he go? Just then, I heard the door opening; it must be him. As he opened the door, he is surprised by my presence. From what I could look at his face, he's suspicious of me.

"Hi," he said, looking at me with his eyes. "Who are you?"

"My name is Anne, and I have an appointment with you," I said, looking angry at him, but I decided not to show my anger.

"Oh, take a seat with me."

"Thank you," I said as I put my back to the doorknob. I placed my right hand to the doorknob and press the button, locking the door. I decided to have a private conversation with him. I sit on a chair that is to my left while Mr. Hiryu seats on the chair that is on the back of the desk.

"What is your appointment here, Anne?" asked Mr. Hiryu.

I replied as I pulled out a gun to his face, "The interrogation kind." I stand up and start punching him on the face. "Now I want you to tell me something," I said, finally looking angry at him. "What do you know about the raid on the warehouses on the last six days?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he said. From my view, I could tell he's lying to me.

I punch him again in the face and point the gun at his head. "Once again, do you know anything about the raids last night?" I demanded a question with an answer from him.

"I ordered those guys to make some raids in order to get it to my company," replied Mr. Hiryu. Those words coming out of his mouth really made me wonder.

"What's your connection to the leader of the criminals?" I asked.

Mr. Hiryu replied, "I hired him to do other atrocious acts in order to make me rich."

So he hired that criminal I killed on the other day. _Very interesting._ I thought.

"Thank you for your cooperation," I said still pointing a gun at him. "I decided to let the cops handle you." When I last looked at his face, he's scared of me.

When I left his office, I see the cops have surrounded me. I point my gun at one of them and shot him in the head. As the cops are starting to shoot at me, I run at one of the desks for cover. There are too many of them and they're carrying submachine guns. Although I can take them out all at once, I don't want to kill them. This is because they're the good guys. Just then, I noticed a sight that interests me: the sprinklers. I take a shot on it and the sprinklers activate. Once that is done, I run for my life as the cops start shooting at me, but I also took some shots at them. I made it to the storage room, and locked the door from that floor to shake the cops off for a while. I made my way to the ground floor as I saw the receptionist is filled with worry.

"Do you hear that, Anne? There's an intruder in here! She must be stopped!"

"I know. She'll be caught, don't worry," I lied to her as she doesn't know that I'm the intruder. As I made my way to the front door, I saw the cops have surrounded the building. I took a deep breath and this is the day I shall die so that I can be with Shiki again and apologize to her for what I said that would lead her to death. Calmly, I opened the door as I'm ready for my plan to commence. Holding the gun, I would take some of the cops with me before I die. I point my gun to their direction and start shooting at them; they took off the bullets from their guns as they unloaded all their shots at me. I got shot to death as my arms, chest, and legs are covered with blood. Then I dropped the gun and took my time with my last breath. Once that is done, I dropped to the ground. As I looked at the sky, I could feel that I'm dying, but this is what I wanted.

_Hang on, Shiki, I'm here for you._

I close my eyes, finally resting in peace. I finally got my death wish.


	3. Week 2, Day 1: Reunion with Best Friend

As I opened my eyes, I looked at the sight that is horrified me. That sight is that I'm still at Shibuya! I thought I died, but how did I end up here? Am I still alive? Or did that mysterious force once again stopped my attempt to die? Either way, I'm going to have to get answers from someone around here. When I looked at my right, I have a black pin holding in my hand. Suddenly, I was surrounded with light around me as I begin to hear what people are thinking. Oh no, did I just read their thoughts? I better find the person who could give me answers. As I looked around, I saw Mina. Maybe she has the answers so I run up to her.

"Mina, I need your help. Did I die?"

However, she didn't answer my question. Just as she is walking away, I tried to touch her, but my touch phases through her. What is this? Did I become a spirit? It wasn't long before she headed to the Statue of Hachiko. Maybe I could find my answers right there.

Just then, I heard a ringing sound. Whose phone was that? Mine? As I took reach of my cellphone, I got a message saying "Reach 104 building at 60 minutes. Failed, and you will face erasure – The Reapers". What is this? Junk mail? I'd better delete this. Unfortunately, that message comes back to me. What is the meaning of this? Is this some kind of an insult? Just then, I feel the pain coming from my right hand. It's a timer! Suddenly, I looked at the big screen TV from the skyscraper saying that I got 7 days. So I better hurry, and get to building 104.

As I headed to the Statue of Hachiko, I caught the glimpse of frog like monsters are going to attack me. What else is that I find people there have started to vanish because of those red markings. There are too many of them and I'm outnumbered. Wait, this is just what I needed. I spread my arms to each side, ready to accept my fate.

"Okay, you monsters, come and get me!"

They're about to attack me and this is what I want. I closed my eyes, ready once again to die. However, I heard someone saying, "No, Eri!" Then I opened my eyes to see that a cat plush toy has defended me from the monsters. It looks familiar. Hey, I know that stuffed animal. It's Mr. Mew!

Just then, this young girl shows up and said, "Do you think I'm gonna let my own best friend die? Well, I just did, so you got what you want."

_I'm dead?_

I finally got my answer. As I looked at her, she looks like me with her appearance. But something's different about her. Her voice looks familiar and she just called me her best friend. The only person whom I've been best friends with is Shiki.

_Wait, does that mean? I have to be sure first if it's really her._

"Shiki?"

"Yes, Eri, it's me," said the girl.

So it's her! If she's here with me, then that must mean I'm dead. Inside, I'm feeling happy that I got my wish to meet her again by dying. One thing that I'm getting curious here is that she looks like me. Why is that?

"Shiki, why do you look just like me?"

"No time to explain that. Forge a pact with me!"

"What?" I asked in curiosity. "A pact with you?"

"Yes, a pact," Shiki said. "If we forge a pact, we can beat the Noise."

"The Noise? Is that you call those frog monsters that are going to get me?" I said as I looked at the monsters that I once used to get my death wish. But I don't have to worry about that since I got it already.

"Hurry up, Eri! Make a pact with me, please!"

"I accept."

Just then, Shiki and I are surrounded by this blue light with our eyes closed. Then, we opened our eyes as we are ready.

"What is with this light show?"

"It's means we are now pact partners. Here!" Shiki said as she gives me a pin. As I looked at it, it's an icy type. "Use this to stop the Noise. Ready, Eri?"

"Yes, I'm ready, Shiki."

I was ready to face those monsters. I successfully dodge the attack, and makes use of this pin. I witness them getting attack by an ice like power that it freezes them. So this is what this pin can do. I'm hoping I gotta get more of those pins. I noticed the pin I have has no power, but it has; I'll just have to wait for it to recharge. I use it again, and the monsters are defeated.

"That ice," I said. "Did I just do that?"

"Yeah, you did, Eri. Guess I found the right partner for this week, right?"

"This week?" I asked. "What are you talking about, Shiki?"

"I guess it's time for me to explain to you about this, huh?" she said, looking sad. I remembered the last time I saw her, she looks sad when I told her she wasn't meant to be a designer. As I take a look at her new face which is my face, I remembered in my mind of what she truly looks like. Her hair is raven colored and wears glasses. But now that she's me, I don't know what to say about this. Maybe I should take her to some place where we can talk about this. If there is one, it's the Scramble Crossing. Now it's time for me to have a talk with her.

"Shiki," I said, ready to speak to her the words that she needed to hear. "I'm sorry for saying that you weren't meant to be a designer. I thought I could cheer you up because you couldn't come up with a design, but I was wrong. It killed you, I killed you. This is why I quit being a designer and started to become an activist, but only because I wanted to die for being responsible for your death. I'm really sorry." I started to cry while saying those words to her. Shiki started to wrap her arms around me for a hug, and so did I.

"It's okay, Eri. You're here with me, and that's all matters," she said. Then we let go of each other as we recollect our thoughts. She then added, "Thank you for talking about me from the other day when you have a talk with Mina."

"From the other day? You were there?"

"Yes. Too bad you couldn't see me. I just watched you. By the way, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I asked. "For what?"

"For trying to stop your attempts to die," she replied looking worried at her face. Those words coming out of her mouth made me realize one thing: she's the mysterious force foiling my attempts to die. Now I know she's trying to stop me from dying. As I recollect my thoughts, I thought back at when I found who this mysterious force is, I'll give it a piece of my mind. Now that I know it's my own best friend, I decided not to. I'm not mad at her or something, just been wondering of why she keeps on doing this to me.

"Why, Shiki? Why are you trying to stop me?" I asked.

"I figured that if you die and meet me here, you'll see me like this, and you're gonna look disappointed," was the reply coming out of her.

"Is that what you think?" I said. "Look, I'm not disappointed at you. I'm just surprised, that's all. Now that I see you like this, you're beautiful to me." I touched Shiki's new face, my face, and it looks smooth. As I looked at her eyes, my eyes, I finally got what I want of seeing her again. Then I let go of this sensation. "Now I want to know your side of the story, Shiki. I mean, what were you doing throughout last week, why do you look like me, and why didn't you stop me again from getting my death wish?"

She explained her story to me while I just listened to it. She told me that last week, she went to the Reapers' Game when she died and made a pact with Neku. While they were getting through the week, she is confronted by Higashizawa, the Reaper who uses her jealous issues of me against her. This is the reason why she's me. She told me this is her entry fee; it is what is used to enter the Game by giving up what he/she values the most. For her case, it's her appearance. Luckily, her jealousy disappeared when she found me talking to Mina about her. What a relief that is. On the day after that, she confronted that Reaper again. Looks looks I got my answer of why didn't she stop me from getting shot to death by the police. Upon defeating him, she is ready to go back to life; therefore, ready to see me again. But she went back here, and doesn't know why.

"Now what about you, Eri? What did you do to get your death wish?" she asked.

Now it's time for me to tell her of what had happened to me to get my wish to die. I told her that yesterday, I made an assault on Mr. Hiryu, a corporate man who has connections to the criminal I was assaulting last week. I interrogated him of that and left him for the cops to arrest him. Just then, the cops show up and started to shooting at me. I barely made it out of the top floor and just as I was about to leave, I saw the cops have surrounded the building. No way out of this situation, I used this as an opportunity to die. I walked out of the building, taking my gun out, and started shooting at them. I only managed to kill a few cops as a lot of them have shot me to death. I finally got my wish to die and be with Shiki again.

"Now that things are made clear between us, are we now a team again?" I asked, extending my hand towards Shiki.

"Yes, now that we made a pact," she replies holding my hand, a sign that we're a team again. Then she gets surprised all of a sudden. "The mission! Do you know what we're going to do?"

"Well, I got a message saying go to 104."

"Then let's go there then!"

Shiki and I started to run there as fast as we can. As I look at my right hand, we only got 15 minutes to go there, otherwise we'll face erasure. Luckily, we got there as we put our hands to our knees and take deep breaths. Then I just heard a beep, and I see a sight that has me surprised. The timer at my right hand is gone! Looks like we did it alright, as a team.

"So you found a pact partner, huh?"

I looked at the man who is standing next to us. He wears a red hoodie, a cap, and carrying a green shoulder bag.

"Wh-wh-who is that, Shiki?"

"It's a Reaper! If you want to know something, Eri, those are the enemies I fought against. But this is a kind of Reaper I don't fight. He is helpful, but if only you accomplish his goals."

"That's right, little girl," said the Reaper. "I give out the missions and you two will do it. If you succeed, you may pass. Now, your mission is to get me points by fighting this set of Noise."

Shiki faces me and said, "Eri, now that you know how to fight, you have to focus your thought on me."

"What's that?" I asked. _I wonder what does that mean anyway?_

"It means we must join forces in fighting them. Oh, and you're gonna be surprised of how do I fight."

As the battle begins, I see Mr. Mew dancing over Shiki, and started attacking a Noise. Wait, does she have control over him? Is that how she fights? Well, I got to battle these monsters on my own as I use the pin to freeze them until they disappeared. On Shiki's side, they have disappeared also. I guess it's over, for now.

"Is that you fight? You take control of Mr. Mew?"

"Well, sort of," was the reply I'm getting from her. "He does his own thing. Now that it's over, we got six days to win the Game."

"Six days? You mean this Game will be played for a week?" I was getting confused. I know Shiki, she's honest. Therefore, she has to answer honestly to this one.

"Yes", was the reply. Then she noticed the look on my face being down. "Are you okay, Eri? What's wrong?" she looks worried for me.

I took a deep breath and look at her directly in the eyes. "Yes, I'm okay, Shiki. It's just that I don't know if I could get through this. The truth is, I'm scared."

Shiki then replies, "I am too. When I'm you, that's what I feel, but because I saw you talking to Mina about me from the other day, I'm not anymore. This gives me the strength to come back to life and seeing you again. Even so, I'm still in the Reapers' Game while you got what you want of seeing me again by getting yourself killed. Now that you're here, we're in this together. Besides, do you wish to have my skills as well?"

Those words coming out of her mouth reminded me of what I said to Mina that day. I thought back of wishing I could have Shiki's skills. Now there she is reminding me of those words because she saw me. It cheered me up on the inside; this is what I wished for.

"Yes," I said finally looking cheerful on the outside. "This is what I wanted. I wished to have your skills as well."

Shiki then makes a smile on her face as she tries to reassure me of all this, "Don't worry, you'll get it. Oh, and you're new in this so I'll have to teach you some things about the Game."

"Yeah, I thought so," I said.

This day is the happiest day of my life. I get to see Shiki again, and being the good friend that she is, she'll help me get through this. This gives me a reason to live once again. Let's win the Game, Shiki, so that we can be alive again and do stuff like we always do.


	4. Week 2, Day 2 part 1: The Basics

"It feels like a day just passed or something. What does that mean?" I said trying to understand the concept of the Game. I recalled that after Shiki and I completed our mission, we just blacked out. Then, I remembered we were at the Statue of Hachiko. _Either way, I know for certain that Shiki might know something about this._

"It means that when we completed a mission, we just suddenly moved on to the next day," was the reply coming out of her mouth. I guess that's all she could say. From what I can think of her, I could tell that she may know the basics, but doesn't know something that she didn't expect of.

"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that after we complete a mission, we just fell asleep or something in the middle of the day?"

"Exactly."

_Isn't this just great? We just passed out after the completing the mission. What is this rule? Is this some kind of a joke?_

I look at the black pin I obtained from my right hand. It seems familiar. I could bet Shiki would know what this is. As she looked at me with it, I could tell she knows something about it.

"If you want to know something about that pin, Eri," she said. "It's a Player Pin. All the Players have those, and they use it to scan people."

"Scan people? Wait, does that mean read other people's thoughts?" I looked shocked by this kind of revelation. So this pin I'm holding is getting into people's thoughts. I recollect my thoughts of my first time of using this pin to ready their thoughts. I was shocked by this. I say that this is called eavesdropping, a term used to hear a conversation that is not intended to hear.

"Yes, it is," she replied.

_Oh no, I just become an eavesdropper. But don't worry, I don't know those people I just eavesdrop on. There's nothing to worry about, right?_

"Oh, and Eri," Shiki said, looking back to me. She put her eyes down on the pin I was holding, and then touches my shoulders. "You're lucky you're one of the people whose thoughts I wouldn't eavesdrop on."

As she said those words, I recalled yesterday when she told me that she saw me talking to Mina about her. She was shocked of finding out I gave up on being a designer. I gotta thank Shiki for telling me of this. I know for certain that she wouldn't eavesdrop on my thoughts because she's my friend. _You're a good friend, Shiki. I knew you wouldn't make that kind of move on me._

"Yeah, otherwise you might find some bad thoughts in my head which I do not have," I replied. Suddenly, the phone just ringed. _Let me guess, a mission right?_

"The mission!" she yelled. "Your phone, answer it!"

I took out my cellphone and open the cover. As I looked at it, it's a message saying, "From where love is, there is a booth for confession. You have 60 minutes. Failed, and you will face erasure – The Reapers." Then I noticed the timer appearing on my right hand again. So this is what happens when every time we do a mission.

"You're right, Shiki. We're on to the next day because I noticed the date from my cellphone just changed to this day," I said.

She makes a reply with irony, "Yeah, I got that from my cellphone, too."

Now for the riddle. As Shiki and I think of what the answer to this riddle is, I thought of the answer right away. "I think it's the Phone Booth of Love."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked. "Let's go there right now!"

We run off from the Statue to Hachiko as we are ready to go there. We both know where the Phone Booth of Love is and it's at Molco. As we headed there, I remembered the times of when Shiki was alive, we used to go shopping there and talk about fashion. But now that we're dead, I'm not sure about shopping right in this place. Anyway, this is no time to be shopping. We got to head to the phone booth. As we started to run off, we were blocked by something. Is that a wall or something?

"Ha! Do you think you'd just come this way to get the mission? Well, I got a real challenge for you two."

As Shiki and I looked from behind, we saw the guy sporting a red jacket and looking emotionless. Wait a minute, is he the same guy again from yesterday? If so...

"Oh great, him again?" I said.

"Yes, me again," the Reaper said, taunting me and Shiki with that look on his face. Does he almost always make that look?

"Does he always follow us everywhere we go? I mean, is he a stalker or something?" I asked my best friend in curiosity to this guy.

"No, Eri," she replied back. "We just cross paths with this guy, that's all."

The Reaper then replied back to us, "That's right. Now for your challenge. Bring me some food."

I was shock by this kind of challenge. Could these kind of Reapers make some challenge as trivial as this? Anyway, since it was his challenge, I decided not to object to it. "Okay," I said grabbing Shiki's hand as we're about to leave to do this task. While doing this, I scanned the Reaper to see what kind of food he likes. The answer? It's Rolly Jelly Q10.

If I know a place to find it, it's at the Pharmacy at Shibu-Q Heads. Because of this, Shiki and I started to run from there. When we get to Spain Hill, I decided to scan the people around. As I do it, I noticed the same red markings I saw from yesterday, and also a green marking. Just then, that marking just came to me, and we get ourselves to a fight with the Noise. As usual, I have to make use of my ice pin while Shiki has Mr. Mew doing all that fighting for her. Now after the battle, I seemed to noticed my pin has reached from level 1 to level 2. How nice that is anyway.

We continue to run all the way from Spain Hill to Tipsy Tose Hall. I call this place fun because after that talk I had with Mina last week, I decided to go there and have fun. My favorite kind of arcade game there is dancing. On the top of that, I went to karaoke. As I recalled of what I have sung there, I missed Shiki while I was singing. I was singing a song about friendship to her. Now that she's here with me in the Reapers' Game, I'm going to sing that song for her when we're back to the land of the living. Now then, I decided to test another battle with the Noise so I used the Player Pin to look for those markings to come to me. As it did, we're on to another battle, but we've won. We continued to run from here to Shibu-Q Heads.

I decided to have a conversation with Shiki about what we're about to do.

"Shiki," I started. "Do you buy things while you're at the Game?"

"Yes," she replied. "You can buy food, clothes, and even pins while in the Game. Oh, and if you're wondering how much that jelly is, it's quite expensive. But don't worry, I got a lot of Yen for us to share so that we can buy things."

"Uh, thanks," I said looking surprised from all that explanation. That must a lot of Yen she got ever since she got into the Game. Anyway, as we went to the pharmacy, we buy the jelly and because we're at Shibu-Q Heads, we have to run all the way back to Molco. This is gonna be a tiring day after all.


	5. Week 2, Day 2 part 2: The Game Master

As we run back to Molco, we have a talk with that Reaper to bring down that wall so that we can complete our mission.

"Hmm, not bad for you two. See you two later," he said as not only we have given him what he wanted, but also he disappeared right in front of our eyes. I guess that is one nice disappearing act.

Anyway, we headed straight to the Phone Booth of Love. As we got there, I looked at my right hand to see the timer has disappeared.

"Not bad, Eri," Shiki said happily. "Looks like your second day of the Game is really experiencing for you, huh?"

"Yes, it is, Shiki," I also replied happily.

Just then, we heard clapping in our ears. As we turned around, I noticed this guy is wearing a black business suit, has black hair, and looking sinister. I remembered that guy. It's...

"Mr. Hiryu!"

"You know him?" Shiki asked me. Looks like she doesn't know the guy whom I confronted from last week. Anyway, he'll tell her his name and introduce more about himself.

"Yes, she does," replied the man in front of us. "My name is Kenzo Hiryu. I'm the guy whom she confronted last week. It's good to see you again, Anne, or should I say, Eri. I know you. You're the one who attacked the criminal whom I have connections with. Anyway, I'm the Game Master for this week."

"Game Master?" I turned to Shiki, wanting an answer.

She replied, "Game Master is when that Reaper will be in charge for this week."

"That's right," said Mr. Hiryu, looking so smug at his face. "In fact, I'll give you two some Noise to battle against."

As we go into battle, we saw a different kind of Noise. First, it looks like a wolf, and for the second one, it's a grizzly bear. Anyway, as we fight these Noise, I was getting injured from these guys until I got some health back. It must have Shiki doing this. Continuing on, I managed to give them a freezing start, and it's all done. However, it isn't. This is just round 1; now it's round 2. We continued to fight off the same guys until I decided to do a Fusion technique that Shiki told me. As we activate it, we saw started to attack the enemies. When I looked at her, she attacks enemies on her own. Nice move. Anyway, the battle's over.

Mr. Hiryu is still looking so smug.

"Congratulations, you two. You have defeated my Noise. Before I go, let me give you this piece of information, Eri. I was the one who put you in here."

These words coming out of his mouth have surprised me. Just how could he do that?

The explanation extends, "You see, after you got shot to death by the police, I found your body in the front entrance of my building. I know why you made some assaults last week. You wanted to die so that you can see Shiki again. I placed you to the Reaper's Game by dropping that Player Pin to your body. Here's another piece of information you should know. When you entered the Game, you must have an entry fee. It means what you value the most will be given up. That's all I can tell you. You have to guess what is that entry fee on your own. Goodbye."

Just then, he disappeared right in front of our eyes. Now I got a question on my hands: what is my entry fee? As I think of what I valued the most, it's death. This is what I wanted to get to see Shiki again. Then the answer hit me: it's the bullets I was shot repeatedly.

"Shiki, I know what my entry fee is. It's the bullets the police have shot me repeatedly." I said.

"What?" Shiki looks surprised by my answer. "How is that, Eri?"

"Well, you see, Shiki," I was ready to give out an explanation. "What I valued the most is death so that I can meet you again. I was shot to death by the police so I got what I wanted. I didn't expect my entry fee to be those bullets I was shot with."

Shiki said in a happy tone. "And look where you are now. I'm surprised you've been toughen up while I'm in the Game."

"I have to," I replied happily. "That is if I want to find you again and I just did. Looks like you saw my moves. If you want to know where did I get those moves, I just find training if I want to become an activist."

Then we pause for a while.

"Now that our mission is complete, we have 5 more days to go," she said reminding me of what day is today.

"Yeah," I said jokingly. "It looks like we move to the next day."

If I didn't know any better, we will wake up to some place tomorrow. I hope it's some place we were used to go.


	6. Week 2, Day 3 part 1: Mr H

The third day...

I opened my eyes to see that Shiki and I are at the Scramble Crossing. If I wanted a great place to wake up, I guess this must be it. I was getting fascinated by this sight. This district has giant TV screens on buildings.

"I see you're fascinated with this place, huh?"

I turned to see Shiki asking me with such question. "Yes, I was. In fact, do you remember the day we tried to watch our favorite show, but there's no cable?"

"Yeah, we just walked to this place and watch it there," was the reply coming out of her. It is nice that we recall our memories of this place. Sometimes, we go here to watch our favorite show when there's trouble with our TVs like no cable.

Maybe I should ask Shiki questions about the Game. _I wonder, does she have other friends in the Game besides Neku?_

"Shiki..." I said, ready to ask that question.

"What is it, Eri?" she asked me in regarding of my question. I just hoped she has the answer.

"I want to know. While in the Game, before I came here, do you have other friends besides Neku?"

"If you want an answer to that question, I guess I should tell you."

She told me that besides Neku, she has met two other Players named Beat and Rhyme. She told me a sad story when it comes to these two; the former just disappeared after the latter is temporarily dead.

"Well, that's quite a story," I said.

"Yeah, it is," Shiki said back.

Just then, our cellphones just ring. It must be a mission. We answered it to see what our mission is for today. It says, "Udagawa Back Streets. Head there in 180 minutes or face erasure – The Reapers."

_Well, that's one kind of a mission to get a start with._

It looks we're gonna have a good exercise for this morning. I know that Udagawa Back Streets is a long way from the Scramble Crossing so we just have to run from there.

"Hey!"

Shiki and I turned from our behind to see a man who wears sunglasses, all black not to mention those sandals, and looks a hipster from my view. This man comes closer to us as he wanted to start a conversation.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sanae Hanekoma. Call me Mr. H," the man introduces himself. He turns to face me. "Hey, you must be the girl where Shiki takes her form."

"Yeah," I finally said to introduce myself to this guy. "My name is Eri. I'm her best friend."

"Her best friend, huh?" Mr. H turns his attention to Shiki. "Is this the girl whom you told me you envied her because of how successful she is?"

So he knows of her backstory when it comes to me. I grab Shiki's right hand and stood myself in front of this guy. I'm trying to protect her from him, that's what. Protect her from using her jealous issues on her.

"Look, Mr. H. I don't who you are, but you better stop talking to her about that. The truth is, she's not jealous of me anymore when she saw me talking to Mina about her."

"You don't have to defend me from him, Eri. He's a good guy. I met him in the Statue of Hachiko and helped Neku and I from the second day at last week," Shiki started talking about that guy."

Mr. H then said, "That's right. By the way, she has told me you're suicidal, but in a different. You're trying to die so that you can be with her. This is must be because you're responsible for her death, right?"

I put my head down in sadness. "Yeah, I am responsible. I just can't believe that you, my best friend, tried to stop me from dying because you're afraid of me seeing you like this. Well, I'm not afraid. In fact, I think you're beautiful despite you're in my body."

"Well, I got to get going. I'm glad we have this talk, Eri. If you need to find me for some advice, see me WildKat."

_WildKat huh? I remembered that place before. Shiki and I used to go there on occasion._

"Okay, see you there," I said. Then Mr. H just left.

Now that this conversation is finish, it's time for this "exercise" of running from here to the Udagawa Back Streets.


	7. Week 2, Day 3 part 2: The New Pins

First stop: Center Street Entrance. How I loved this place; in fact, it has fashion's name in it. This is one of the places Shiki and I used to go when it comes to fashion.

"Um, Eri?" she started calling me for attention.

"Yeah, Shiki, what is it?" I replied.

"Did you know you got other pins besides the one I gave you?"

As I looked at my pocket, I noticed there is a set of pins. How did I not see that coming? I must have been too busy using this ice pin to notice the others. As I looked at it, there is the Player Pin which I used to scan the people that are not players in the game. Anyway, I'm just glad she noticed that. I wonder if there is time to test out those pins.

"You're right," I said. "I saw it and I have no clue. If only there could be Noise to test these out..."

Suddenly, more Noise is coming on our way. This is the time to test out those other pins. First one will be the one with a triangular and ice cube description. As I used it, I noticed some ice pillars rising up to hit them. Anyway, I finished the Noise off with this power. Now for the second pin; it has a star description. Wonder what this one could do? Upon activating it to the Noise, a small piece of ice just appeared on it to damage by a burst of cold. Check. For the third one, it looks like a bat. As usual, I used it take out some of the Noise. To think this pin can fire a light-blue bullet to knock back enemies. How nice. As I looked at the final pin, it's black and has purple and pink lines. I used this on the Noise to find out I can swing a large blade. Testing is finish, I guess.

Before long, I needed to tell Shiki something; something that she needs to know.

"Shiki, before we go to the next street, do you recall the last conversation I had with Mina?"

"Yeah," she replied. "What about it?"

I was afraid that she might get upset of telling the truth of the fact that my conversation with Mina was a ploy to make sure she stops interfering with my death wish. Anyway, it's the truth and it will set anyone free if told.

"It was a ploy to make sure you stop foiling my attempts on getting my death wish," I replied. Suddenly, I begin to feel sad, and before I know it, tears are coming out of my eyes. I think Shiki might get upset from learning all this. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't tell you that."

Before long, Shiki comes near me to wipe off the tears. As I looked at her, she's not really upset of the truth after all. What a relief that is.

"It's okay," she said in a happy tone. "I got something to tell you, too, Eri. When you got in the Game, I thought of something." Suddenly, her expression goes from happy to sadness. "It's my fault you died. Why? Because I took your word the wrong way of you saying I'm not meant to be a designer. You thought it could cheer me up because I couldn't come up with a design, but it made me sad instead; so sad that I died. Even so, I protected you from doing all those dangerous things you did so that you can be with me in death. Anyway, it doesn't matter now that I failed. I failed because I was battling the Game Master; therefore giving you the chance to get your death wish. It's all my fault you died."

After all this time, Shiki has protected me. I must be feeling guilty for getting myself in danger. Upon hearing this kind of explanation, I just give her a hug then spoke some words to comfort her.

"Now we're even, Shiki. We got nobody else to blame, but our own for each other's deaths. Now that I'm in here, I got a new mission and that is to protect you. Anyway, even though you failed to protect me from here, you saved my life once from the Noise when I got here. So, let's protect each other so that we can win."

As I let go of hugging her, she replies to me. "Yeah, let's do that. You're lucky I didn't tell Neku about your "death seeking" adventure."

"Yeah, otherwise he'll be in for a surprise when he found that out," I said jokingly.

Next stop: Shibu Q-Heads. As for the last two streets, Tipsy Tose Hall and AMX, we just run from there until getting to our next stop. As soon as we were about to complete the mission, I saw the same Reaper just came here. I get the feeling the way to Udagawa Back Streets has been blocked.

He said, "You want to pass by? Get rid of these sets of Noise." It's blocked, and he has a challenge for us.

Now the battle begins. As Shiki and I confront the Noise, it's full of pigs. Not only by the normal color I know of, but also there are pink pigs. This is the opportunity to test out the new pins. I swing a large blade on a group to my front while on the back, I used another pin to rise some ice pillars to them. However, they're still here, so I have to fire some energy rounds to knock them down, and it did damage to them so much that they're gone. As for Shiki's part, she only uses Mr. Mew to do the job done. How nice between them. Anyway, for round 2, it will be the Mink Noise. In fact, there are three in my front while there are two in my back. As usual, I have to make use of the pins while Shiki has to use Mr. Mew to get the job done. Anyway, it's over. As I take a look at my pins, the one where I freeze the enemies goes from level 2 to 3 while the others went from level 1 to level 2. Except for the one that I can swing a large blade, it went from level 1 to 3.

"Very good, you can pass," said the Reaper, then suddenly vanished. We continue to go there to complete the mission.


	8. Week 2, Day 3 part 3: Fighting Beat 1

Udagawa Back Streets... This place is filled with graffiti. I love the artwork. But I think it's a crime to vandalize the walls. Luckily, I remembered I took out a couple of delinquents doing some vandalizing on the walls of the street. I put up a fight with them and I won.

Anyway, that's not the main topic of discussion. As Shiki and I entered this street, I looked at my right to see the timer has disappeared. Looks like we did it.

"We did it, Shiki," I said.

She said, "Yeah, we did it. With teamwork, that is."

Suddenly, I heard someone saying, "Found ya!"

As we looked from behind who it is, it's some teenager, who wears a black skull hat, a white jersey, chains from his neck and left side, black wristband, yellow pants, and red and black shoes. Most of all the features I've seen in him are that he has wings and carries a little Noise on his shoulder. _Don't tell me he's..._

"Beat!" Shiki said his name.

"Beat?" I asked. "Is that the person whom you told me about early on?"

"Yes."

So it is him. This is the guy she told me about early on.

"You're okay, Beat. I thought you were gone," Shiki said talking to the big guy.

"I'm better than ever, Shiki," Beat giving us the opportunity to see his wings. "See for yourself. I have wings, and that means I'm a Reaper, yo."

_Just as I thought._ I thought about this. _If he has become a Reaper, that means he has gone to the dark side. Not good._

Suddenly, he turns my attention to me. "Well, who's this, Shiki? Is she your clone or twin sister or something?"

I was surprised of what this guy has called me. Deep down, I was insulted by what he has called me. I'm not her clone or twin sister. I'm her best friend. I turned to Shiki for what he has to say.

"Clone? Twin sister? Is he talking about me?"

"Beat is really dumb," was the reply coming out of her.

"I see," I said, getting ready to introduce myself. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm not Shiki's clone or twin sister. My name is Eri and I'm her best friend. In fact, you see before you is really my body. She took on my appearance while in here."

Beat then said, "Thank you for introducing yourself, but now you two must fight me. I'll erase some Players like you right now! Time to fight!"

As I looked at Shiki, I saw fear in her. She fears of hurting Beat because he's her friend. I'm going to tell her something in this situation.

"Look, Shiki," I said. "I know what you're thinking, but he's not a Player anymore. He's a Reaper. That means the Reapers are our enemies. We don't have no choice, but to fight him."

Now the battle begins. Because he is only by himself, we can beat him for sure. In fact, his mode of attacking is using his skateboard. Anyway, we won.

"Is that all your Psychs can do? I'm outta here."

"Wait, Beat!" Shiki cried out for him. When I looked at her, she's sad, not to mention crying of what her friend has become. In fact, he has attacked her. This really makes me mad. As he tries to escape, I jumped onto him and get out of the way as he bumps into a wall. As I take a look at him, he's really mad at me.

"Hey, what you tryin' to do? You tryin' to get yourself erased?"

"Maybe I am," I replied sarcastically. "Maybe I am not. Get lost, creep."

Beat is about to punch me in the face. However, I stop that by putting my foot in front of his face. As he falls to the ground, I stomp him in the back repeatedly, then in the head until it went a little bit off the ground. Next, I grab him by the front of his shirt in anger.

"Listen up, Beat!" I shouted, pointing out to Shiki, who is sad. "Do you see that? Question no.1, what do you think that is? Answer."

"Shiki is crying, that's what," was the reply coming out of him.

"Correct!" I punch him in the face. "Now, question no.2, why is that?"

Beat answers, "I guess she's crying because I have hurt her. Wait, is that—"

Before he could finish his sentence, I toss him to the ground. "Well, you know how to answer right," I said, and then I shouted as my anger rises. "NOW GO AND APOLOGIZE TO HER OR ELSE I SWEAR I WILL ERASE YOU FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!"

As I looked at Beat, he looks scared of this. He just leaves yelling, "I'm so sorry, Shiki!"

I said in a calm voice, "There. That will teach that punk a lesson for making you cry. Shiki, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay," she said. I'm so relief to hear that.

"Look, Shiki, I'm so sorry for my behavior. What you see what I did to your "friend" here."

"It's okay," she said in a happy tone. "I understand what you did to him, not to mention of what you said. If a friend has turned into an enemy, we don't have no choice, but to fight him/her, right?"

"Exactly," I replied. "Anyway, I got a feeling Beat will be back to erase us. If he shows his face again, we'll be ready, right?"

"Yeah, we will."

This marks the end of the third day in the Reapers' Game. On to the next day...


	9. Week 2, Day 4 part 1: Miyashita Park

As I looked around where we might be waking up now, it's a park. Wait, it's not just any park; it's Miyashita Park! How I love this place. Shiki and I really love this place. In fact, it's one of the places we used to go together. I remembered the time when we used to play games like tag and hide and seek. Looks like we're both equal in skills of running and hiding. In fact, those two elements are important for those games. What else we do in the park is looking around the garden, not to mention the trees and flowers.

"By the way, Eri", Shiki started talking to me. "The places we woke up in the beginning in each day are random. Consider ourselves lucky of waking up in this place."

"Yeah," I said. "This place... we used to go there. Remember that?"

"Yeah," she replied. "We used to play games and looking at the garden."

That's what I thought of she's going to say. Suddenly, our cellphones just ring. As I looked it, the message says "Reach AMX. No time limit. Fail, and then face erasure. – The Reapers."

"Well, that's a start," I said in a sarcastic tone. I really know that place as well. In fact, it's a CD store.

"Now our mission begins!" Shiki exclaims. I never thought she's excited of going to that place. I bet she remembers we used to go there when we're looking for some songs we could enjoy together. I know where AMX is. If I could think of a short way to get there, we must go to the Miyashita Park Underpass, Towa Records, Cadoi City, Molco, Spain Hill, Tipsy Tose Hall, and this is how to go AMX.


	10. Week 2, Day 4 part 2: Solving a Mystery

Because Miyashita Park Underpass is just short, we made it to Towa Records. I gotta say this place is filled with sections of an artist called "CAT".

"CAT..." I said in awe. "I gotta say this guy is really a mystery, Shiki. In fact, I think there are two mysterious people we have met so far. First, it's Mr. H, who just suddenly pop up on us on my third day in the Game. Now we have CAT, an artist who doesn't make any interviews in person or hasn't release any photos."

Shiki appears to be puzzled by those two people I mentioned. I know what she's thinking; looks like she's having a hard time figuring out those two. For me, I think there's a connection between those two. In fact, they never met in person. Now that I'm here, maybe we can solve this case together.

"Hey, now that you're here, Eri, maybe your smarts could figure out something between those two," she said.

"Okay," I replied happily. I always wanted to solve mysteries like this one. In fact, it's one of the things of an activist. "So far, there are two mysterious people: Mr. H and CAT. The real question is, what is the connection between those two?"

Shiki started to suggest something, "Well, do we have any clues?"

"From what I can tell, yes," I replied. "First clue is Mr. H's cafe, WildKat. Where is that?"

"I guess it's at Cat Street."

I said the second clue, "Guess our second clue must be CAT's influence is spreading around Shibuya."

"Yeah," Shiki is starting to speak our third clue to solve this mystery. "The third clue is the fact that Mr. H and CAT, our two mysterious people, never meet face to face."

_I wonder why does Mr. H got something to do with CAT. He sure is a long-time friend with him or something_, I thought. _Could CAT be opening a cafe, too? Wait, what if? No, there's no mistake. I already know what the connection is._

"The case is solve, Shiki," I replied. "There's no reasonable doubt that... Mr. Hanekoma is CAT!"

"What? Are you sure?" Shiki looks surprised in this one. In fact, she really knows how to make that look in her face when I figure something out that she didn't.

"I'm sure of it," I said, really looking determined. "In fact, I knew there's something mysterious about that guy. His association with his cafe, not to mention its name and it's at Cat Street, really does make sense after all."

"I knew you were smart to figure this one out."

I noticed something that Shiki doesn't. I call tell it.

"I couldn't have done it without your help, Shiki," I said, looking relief that I managed to solve this one out. Also, I wanted to cheer her up for being useful. "Looks like you're beginning to have something that you don't have, and that is my smarts. In fact, the Reapers' Game really helped us on figuring out who that mysterious artist is."

Shiki starts to feel embarrassed by what I said, but she accepts it, anyway.

"Why, thank you, Eri," she replied.

"Hey, solving mysteries is also what I do when I'm an activist," I said. "I was trying to solve a mystery of who or what was the mysterious force that keeps foiling my attempts to die. I figured that if I die, I will solve the case. Now that I'm in the Reapers' Game, the case is solve; it's you. I find the Game has mysteries, don't you agree?"

Shiki really looks surprised by this revelation, "Yes, there is. Now for our next destinations: Cadoi City, Molco, Spain Hill, Tipsy Tose Hall, and AMX."

As we started to head towards these destinations, I just knew Shiki would have a sharp eye and motivation when it comes to the Game. Perhaps I should teach her something about being an activist.


	11. Week 2, Day 4 part 3: Fighting Beat 2

Molco... one of our favorite shopping places. Like I said, Shiki and I used to go shopping there. This is one of the places with fashion's name in it.

"Aha!" a voice suddenly said. We both know who that belongs to...

"It's him, isn't it?" I asked, looking casual.

"Yup, it's him," Shiki replied, also casual.

Looks like we got ourselves another confrontation with Beat.

"I found you again, Shiki," he said. "You and your clone/twin sister."

I was so angry that he called me those two things again. "How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Eri, and I'm her best friend, not her clone or twin sister!"

"Pfft. Whatever," said the Reaper right in front of us. "Anyway, it's time for you girls to get erased! Behold, my power!"

I replied calmly, "Right. The only thing you're gonna show us is how dumb you are."

"What did you say? Are you tryin' to provoke me?"

"Well, you're the one who tried to provoke us, Beat," Shiki started talking to him. "Looks like I got no choice, but to fight you."

"That's the spirit, Shiki," Beat is ready to fight us. "Now you and your lookalike will be erased!"

Now the battle begins. Anyway, we can beat him with the help of my pins and Mr. Mew. While I focused on using my blade and ice pins, Shiki will have to get Mr. Mew to attack him until a Fusion attack appears. Maybe it's time I should test out level 2. In order to do this, we must have 2 stars. As we continue to attack Beat, the Fusion is ready. I tested it out to see the results and that is Shiki and I are riding Mr. Mew while he attacks. How nice. Anyway, the battle's over and we win.

"You two have gotten stronger since the last time we met," Beat said, looking in the face of defeat.

Suddenly, he is about to make an attack with some blade, but I grab his hand and punch him in the face. I grab hold of it and started to make an attack. "You shouldn't play with knives," I said, and then I hit him in the face with it.

"Now it's time for me to leave and erase more Players. Consider yourself lucky you two are still alive."

Too bad for him, I'm not gonna allow him to escape after that. Maybe it's time to get something out of him. As soon as he started to ride away by his skateboard, I send a powerful kick to his face that it eventually knocks him out.

"Shiki, can you show me the way to Cat Street?" I asked.

"Why? Do we need to bring him there?"

"Yes," I replied. "We need to ask him questions."

Shiki shows me the way to get to Cat Street. It's from near Miyashita Park. Well, that's easy enough. Once we get there, she shows me the way to WildKat. As we entered there, the cafe looks okay, but there aren't any customers. In fact, Mr. H isn't around. If this place is empty, then that means this could be the perfect place for interrogating Beat. We placed him on a chair for interrogation.

"Shiki?" I started a conversation.

"Hmm?"

"Since you have taught me some things about the Game, maybe I should teach you some things about being an activist," I replied. "That way, we can both have each other's skills, the ones we don't have."

She knows what I'm talking about; she really does know about how we don't have each other skills. This is the time she should know how an activist acts.

"Okay, so what are the basics?"

"First, you need to have a tough attitude, which you already have since you got here," I replied. "Second, your method of attack, and I'm guessing it's when you have Mr. Mew doing all the attack for you. Anyway, I'm not gonna question you about that. It's nice to have him as your method of attack. Third, you must be defensive. Have you been defensive?"

Shiki replied, "Yes, I just block some attacks from the enemies."

"Good. Now the most important thing to have when being an activist is to interrogate someone."

"Interrogate?" Shiki started to ask me that kind of question. "As in ask some questions?"

"Exactly," I replied. "We have to question someone to get some answers to what we want."

"That's simple enough, but what if Beat won't answer. You know, if he tries to lie..."

_I just knew you'd ask me that, Shiki._ I thought. _This is my favorite part._

"Then we just have to beat him up until he answers. Since we're here together, we should play good cop, bad cop. The good cop is the cop who is reasonable while the bad cop is the cop who acts aggressive."

"I see..." Shiki looks scared by this. She has never done this one before. Anyway, this is her first time.

I continued on, "Why don't we play rock-paper-scissors? The winner will get to be the good cop while the loser will get to be the bad cop. How many points of winning do you want to make?"

Shiki replies, "Three points."

Now the game begins. First round, I'm planning to use rock. As we are ready with our selections, she chose scissors. That means I win this round. Now for the second round, Shiki wins by rock when I chose scissors. Nice one. Third round, I thought about using paper, but she has beat me with scissors. She really does have a sharp eye in this one. Fourth round, I win by paper when she chose rock. For the final round, this is the final decision for our roles. Who is the winner?

It's Shiki by scissors when I chose paper. That settles it, she's the good cop while I'm the bad cop.

Now let the interrogation begin...

I grab a glass of water and spill it on Beat, waking him up. Upon waking up, he went into a surprise yelling, "Mommy, I didn't do it!" Shiki and I laugh at this one.

"Hey, where am I?" he looked around the place we have taken him to. Looks like he knows this place. "Why did you take me here?"

"Because we have questions to ask you, Beat," Shiki replied. "Like why did you join the Reapers?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Beat answers. I could tell he's lying.

I started, "Sure you don't, you liar."

I punch him in the face, then I grab him by his head to do it again.

"You know, I'm gonna break you if you don't answer that question."

"Okay, okay, no need to do that!" Beat looks scared. "I did this to save Rhyme, that's all."

"You joined the enemy side just to save her?" Shiki makes the question.

Beat replies, "Yes."

"What's with that Noise you carry on your shoulder?"

"It's just some Noise."

I wonder if Shiki could tell if he's lying. When I looked at her eyes, I could say "yes". Yes, she can tell he's lying.

"You know, I could tell Eri to do something with it," she said.

"She wouldn't!"

I said, "You're right. I'm not gonna. Instead..." I kick him in the groin. I guess this is a painful experience for him. "Now talk unless you want another kick in your groin."

"Alright, alright! It's Rhyme!" Beat replied.

"It's Rhyme, huh?" I asked. "How? I mean, what happened to her to make her something like that."

"Right after she sacrificed her life for me, her Soul was bound to a pin which her Noise can be summoned."

I guess that's all he knows about this question. Now for the last question...

"Do you have any other objectives?" Shiki asks it.

Beat replied, "No, I'm just trying to save Rhyme, that's all."

_I could tell he's lying again._ I thought.

I call on Shiki to whisper from behind his back. "He's dumb, right?"

"Yes," was the reply.

"Then I know how I can make him talk."

As we continue on to the interrogation, I look angry at Beat's face. I throttle him with my left hand, and made a finger gun with my right hand. Where did I point it? At his head.

"You are so in trouble, Beat," I said calmly, then started to get angry. "I got this powerful psych that could literally erase you. Therefore, you're gonna face erasure right here and now if you don't answer that question!"

"What?" Beat is now looking really scared of me. "Come on, girl. What do you think you're doing? This is crazy!"

"Yeah, this is crazy. You're getting exactly what you deserve for making attacks on us. Now answer that question!"

"Okay, okay! I'm trying to become the new Composer."

I turned to Shiki for answers. "Composer?"

"It means he's trying to become the leader of the Reapers," was the reply I could get out of her. "In other words, he plans to run the Game."

Then I turned to Beat for this one. "Once you become the Composer, then what happens?"

"Then I'll just save Rhyme!" was the reply coming out of him. "Now that you got what you want, would you please stop making that move on me? You're acting like a psycho!"

As I look at Shiki, she nods for this so I agree to let him go. I let go of his neck and stop the "finger gun" act on him. "You're free, Beat. Just stand still on the front door."

He walks away from the chair he's sitting and stops outside the front door. Of course, he wonders why did I just let him do that.

"Why? What's the big deal, anyway?"

As soon as he gets distracted by this one, I started to run towards and send him a powerful kick. The kick I made is so powerful that it sends him flying to the sky. Then, a star appears twinkling.

"Now that's been taken care of, to the AMX?" I said.

"To the AMX," Shiki replied.

We run off from here to Molco, ready to reach our destination.


	12. Week 2, Day 4 part 4: The AMX

The route of going to AMX is perfectly clear. Now that Shiki and I are in Molco, we should go from here to Spain Hill to Tipsy Tose Hall, and that's how we should get to AMX. As I thought, we are gonna have an exercise that really looks tiring. In fact, I'm guessing that's what the Reapers' Game could be. Not only it's a test if people like us are worth of going back to life, but, in my point of view, it's an exercise that involves running for our lives. Upon arriving at Tipsy Tose Hall, the entertainment section of Shibuya, I decided to get into a fight with some Noise. Therefore, I use my Player Pin to do it. As I use it, some Noise symbol that is green and shaped like a pig went to me and teleported us for a fight.

I saw three pigs before, and Shiki has it, too. This is a simple battle we could win. Maybe I should use the freeze and blade pins for this fight. As usual, Shiki will have to use Mr. Mew. Anyway, we defeat them together.

Now that it's done, off to AMX. Upon arriving there, I gotta say of how amazing this place is. Like I said, it's a CD store; not only that, but it's also another good entertaining place in Shibuya. Upon reaching there, the timer on our hands just disappeared.

_Mission complete._

"Well, looks like we did it. Eri..." Shiki started a conversation.

"Hmm?" I was puzzled of what is she going to say.

"Thank you."

I was confused. "For what?"

"For giving me a reason to live on," was she said. I know what this means. It's about that conversation I had with Mina; the reason why she deserves a second chance in life.

"You're welcome," I said happily. That's so nice of her to say that. "I'm going to say the same thing to you, Shiki. In fact, seeing you again gives me a reason to live on. Anyway, just remember these words: you are not alone." Shiki started to cry happily upon hearing those words I said. I give her a hug, then I let go to wipe the tears from her eyes. "The truth is, when I'm an activist, I was working with a group of people, but despite all that, I worked alone of attacking bad guys. I took out armies of them just by myself. It really made me sounded alone. Now that I'm with you, I guess I'm not anymore."

We paused for a while.

"Now that's been taken care of, we move on to the next day," I said.

Shiki said happily, "Yeah. I'm betting we could wake up to some place we went together."

"That's what I'm betting on as well."

On to the next day...


	13. Week 2, Day 5 part 1: Questions 1

The fifth day in the Reapers' Game... What a nice day today it is. As I look around me, I'm in some building with three trees near it. I know what this place is; it's Shibu Department Store! I gotta say it's one of the places in Shibuya with fashion's name in it. In fact, it's one of the shops that Shiki and I used to go together. Speaking of Shiki, where is she?

I looked around me to see her beside me having lost consciousness; she told me that this would happen when we, the players of the Game, have completed the mission, and then the next thing is that we wake up to the next day. I got to say that's nice we got to lose consciousness together. Just then, she wakes up to see of where we waked up. She looks around in awe; guess she knows about this place.

"Surprised, Shiki?" I asked in excitement. "I guess not every player gets to wake up in front of a department store."

"Yeah, I thought so, too" she replies following up my joke. "Look it up this way. This is one of the places we used to go together."

"My thoughts exactly."

Suddenly, a voice just said, "Well, it's nice to see you two best friends waking up in some place you used to hang out together." I know who that is. It's none other than:

"I know who that is, Shiki," I said the answer. "It's our enigmatic friend..."

"Mr. H!" she finishes my sentence.

Mr. H has that looks on his face that spells mystery. After all, this guy is all mystery.

"Well, it's nice to see two girls knowing just how enigmatic I am."

I said, "That's one way to notice," I turned my attention to Shiki. "Shiki, wait here. I'm just gonna chat with him. You know, ask some questions."

"Okay," she replied.

"Mr. H, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" I asked.

"Since you two don't have a mission yet, I can answer some. There are some I can answer, and there are some you have to find out on your own," was his reply.

Okay, there are five questions in my mind for him to ask. The subjects are: Shiki, Kenzo Hiryu, Reapers, Planes of existence, and the Noise. The first thing I want to know is that what his involvement with Shiki is.

"Are you involved with Shiki some way?"

"Now that I thought about it, I gotta say I helped out when Phones nearly killed her."

"Phones? You don't mean?"

"That's right, it's Neku."

_Neku tried to erase Shiki._ I thought. At that point, there is anger in me. I was really angry to hear that kind of statement. _I swear when I find Neku, I'll give him a total beat down!_ To think I just made that kind of emotion in front of Mr. H. He's not liking it.

"Whoa, whoa, Eri. Control yourself, would you?" he tries to calm me down. "You know, I watched you secretly of beating Beat, who has become a Reaper, up for hurting and insulting Shiki. I think I know why."

I calm down so that I can talk to him in a calmly manner.

"Yeah, I really get upset when someone tries to hurt or insult my friend. I will not tolerate that kind of move."

"That's what I thought of," Mr. H looks at me with his mysterious face. "Too bad Phones is not right here."

"But still, I'm planning to beat him up for making such bad move on Shiki."

I guess this ends question no. 1. Now for question no. 2...

"Do you know something about this Kenzo Hiryu?"

"Now that you mention it, he's also a mysterious character. If I'm not mistaken, he's your target, huh?"

"Yeah, another activist job. Anyway, I just found out he's a mystery because he's the Game Master."

"That's right. Therefore, he's a Reaper."

Well, that pieces it together. The Reapers are the bad guys while the players are the good guys. It's like I'm in a role-playing game. Nevertheless, this is a Game after all.


	14. Week 2, Day 5 part 2: Questions 2

Now that two questions are down, three more to go. Next question I'm going to ask him is about the Reapers.

"What exactly do we know about these Reapers?"

Mr. H replies in a happy manner, "Well, besides the fact they're your opponents, they are a kind of administrator in the Game."

"Administrator? As in the one who settles affairs around here?"

"Exactly," was his answer. "If you like to make sense out of it, Reapers have supernatural powers."

I asked, "What powers do they possess?"

"For starters, they have a long lifespan. However, they can only maintain it if they erase many players as they can. Another power would be they create Noise, the monsters that you and your friend have encountered. Finally, there's also when you two fight a Game Master, he/she turns into a Noise form. Think of it like when some villain turns into some kind of monster to fight the hero."

_So that's what the Reapers are, huh?_ I thought. _Come of it, they're powerful people in the Game with those supernatural powers, but I'm sure Shiki and I could beat them with the use of Mr. Mew and my pins, respectively._

"Now, can you tell me exactly about those planes of existence?" I asked.

Mr. H replies in that usual tone. "Well, there's the Realground or RG. In other words, it's the world that you and Shiki are born in. There's also Underground or UG, the plane where only Reapers and Players can see. Because you're here, people in the RG can't see or hear you. You should know by now of Shiki has seen and heard you on her sixth day in the Game while she was a pact partner with Neku. Too bad you couldn't see or hear her."

"Well, now that I'm dead, I found that out."

_Now for the last question... instead of asking about the Noise, maybe I should ask him about the Composer._

"What exactly do you know about the Composer?"

"I guess you could say another mysterious character. In fact, his identity is a mystery. You have to find that out on your own."

"My thoughts exactly."

Suddenly, my cellphone rings and I saw a message of today's mission. It says, "Go to some place where there is darkness. Time limit is 360 minutes. Fail, and then face erasure – The Reapers."

"That's nice," Mr. H suddenly said it. "I gotta get going. Good luck to you and your friend."

"Thanks."

I turned to Shiki, "A riddle message."

"I know a place where there is darkness. It's a concert stage at the A-East!"

"You know this place?"

"Neku and I went there once."

Now off to the A-East!


	15. Week 2, Day 5 part 3: Beating Neku Up

From Shibu Department Store, there is Scramble Crossing. Of course, this is a place where districts like 104 Building, the Statue of Hachiko, and of course, the Shibu Department Store is connected to. I gotta say this district is really amazing. Maybe this is the right moment I should ask Shiki about her partnership with Neku.

"Shiki, can I ask you something?"

"Like what, Eri?"

I asked, "What do you think about Neku?"

"Well, for starters, he's a total jerk from the start, trying to get away from me and doesn't call me by my first name, just call me "stalker"," was her reply. "However, he started to get along with me like when he comforted me about my jealous issues regarding you."

"That's nice," I said looking unsurprised by this. "Is it true that Neku tried to erase you?"

As Shiki heard this question, she started to lose her cool. Maybe it's because she didn't want to talk about what really happened. Maybe I shouldn't... no, I must get an answer if he really tried to do that.

"Yes," she suddenly said an answer. Judging by the look on her face, she looks sad. "He tried to kill me once. He's fooled by a Reaper into thinking that once he erases me, he'll be out of the Game."

_Is that it?_ I thought. _But still, I'm planning to give him a total beat down._

Suddenly, I heard two people are coming on the way so I took Shiki by her hand to hide from those people. As we took a look at who is it, it's some spiky orange-headed kid hanging out with some gray-headed kid. I got to say that he looks attractive. Enough about him, time to focus on that kid beside him. He has earphones on his ears. Earphones? Wait, is he?

"Let me guess, Shiki. That's Neku, right? The one with those earphones?" I turned to her for answers regarding this kid.

"Yes," is what she said. Well, that kind of makes sense. After all, Mr. H just called him Phones, and he's wearing those earphones; hence the nickname.

"Does Neku... Does he know what you truly look like?" I asked, concerning about her appearance. Of course, before she got here, I know what she truly looks like.

"No, but when we come back to life, I'll hold Mr. Mew. That way, he'll recognize me."

I replied to this, "Well, that's cute. Tell me, you're supposed to be back to the RG after you win the Game for the first week, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what supposed to happen, but like I said, I don't know how I ended up here again."

I put my hand on Shiki's shoulder. I'm about to do something about Neku. Yes, something that he'll never forget.

"Shiki, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"Just stay here and don't be seen by those two."

"Why?" Shiki is obviously puzzled of what I'm going to do. What I'm going to do is teach that Neku kid for trying to kill my best friend.

"I'm just gonna have a little chat with them. Obviously, he thinks you're missing for this week."

As I walked out of the hiding place, I walk to those two in a calm and happy manner. I was looking cool at that time. Yes, I really look cool, but also beautiful. Besides, one of things I have is looks. As Neku and that kid look at me with their eyes, they find me attractive. Well, that's really cute.

"Hello there, Neku!" I said in a really cute voice. If I know Shiki, she is a gentle person. Well, I'm gentle, too. I just want to set things straight with him. "It's so nice to see you again!"

"Sh-Sh-Shiki?"

_So he knows that she's me, huh? Maybe I can do some acting._ I thought.

I took a look at the kid beside him. "Who's that?" As I look at the grey-haired kid, not only he looks cool, but also smug. I gotta say he really looks obnoxious to me.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the kid on my right. "My name is Yoshiya Kiryu, but you can call me Joshua."

"Joshua, huh?" I grab his hand to shake hands. "It's good to see you, not to mention get to know you."

"Likewise."

Then we let go of our hands. Now that I got this kid's name, it's time for my plan to commence.

"Joshua, can you go far from here?"

"Why?" he obviously doesn't know that I'm gonna give Neku a total beat down for what happened to Shiki at the Statue of Hachiko. I'm just trying to make sure he doesn't see it. If he does see it, I'm sure he'll understand. Besides, that look on his face really made me think that he's really a genius, an insufferable type, that is.

"Can you?"

"Okay," Joshua took a few steps from here. I guess it could be ten steps.

"Now, turn around and don't look."

Joshua turns around, looking away from what I'm going to do. If he saw that, he'll just have to guess it on his own.

"Shiki..." Neku sounded confuse. "What's going on here? Why did you make Joshua go away from here and turn around?"

I said, "Neku..."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, I punch him at his face that sends him a few inches from here. Guess I must have been training so hard of my fighting skills. Anyway, I looked angry at him. Once he's on the floor, I approach him with an angry look on my face.

"Shiki, what was that for?" Neku is really, the way I looked at it, hurt.

"Let me tell you something, Neku," I grab him by the front of his shirt. "You should know by now that I'm really angry for what happened to my best friend!"

I get the feeling he knows who I am. That's because he saw me.

"Your best friend? Wait, Eri?"

"That's right. I am Eri, Shiki's best friend. You saw me while you were partners with Shiki, right?"

"Yes, I did."

"Good," I let him go and he stands back up. "Now listen up, you antisocial teen! Do you see that?" I pointed to the Statue of Hachiko. "Now, the question, what did you do Shiki in that place?"

Neku is really afraid to answer this question. Obviously, he has done something bad to her.

"Well, if you want an answer, you're not gonna like it. I tried to erase her."

"That's right!" I kick him right by his groin, and then I grab him again by the front of his shirt. "Now the second question, why is that? I mean, why did you have to do that, you jerk?"

"I guess I was tricked by this Reaper into killing her so that I can get out of the Game." As Neku takes a look at me, I was really angry that he tried to kill Shiki just to get out of the Game. "Wait, is that..."

I punch Neku two times, and toss him to a few inches from here. In other words, back to the same spot. Once again, I grab him again by the front of his shirt.

"Congratulations, Neku, you have answered my questions correctly," I started to get angrier at this point. Next thing is that I pin him down to a wall. "Tell me, did you just yelled at Shiki about you don't need friends? Huh?"

Neku answers truthfully, "You're not gonna like this, Eri, but yes. I just did."

_So that's insulting._ I thought. _You have both hurt and insult Shiki. That really makes me mad. Anyone who tries to do that to her will get a beating from me._ I smack Neku against the wall for about three times before I calmed down.

"Listen, Neku, I don't want to hurt you because you're a good friend of Shiki. Now, say you're sorry for everything you've done to her."

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't hear that."

"I'm sorry!"

"Say it like you mean it."

"I'm so sorry!"

I was happy to hear this statement coming out of an antisocial teen. I remembered I have to deal with someone like that while I'm an activist, forcing him to apologize to his own girlfriend for making such abuse on her. Once he heard the statement I wanted to hear, I toss Neku off and just left. Even so, I heard Joshua said something about what I just did; he said 'I got to say the best friend of that girl you mentioned is really scary when she gets mad'. The look on his face is frightening. Guess he saw what happened; not only that but his expression becomes from smug to frightened. Neku just replied on him, 'Yes, she is.' Anyway, they just left after they talked about me. Well, that's nice. I don't want to see them Shiki hiding around the place, and I went back to that place.

"Are you okay, Shiki?" I am concerned for her safety.

"I'm okay, Eri," she replied. "Did you have to beat Neku to get an apology for everything he did to me?"

"I didn't know about that until now," I replied, looking remorseful. "The truth is, I really get upset when someone tries to hurt or insult you."

"So that's what happened back in Udagawa Back Streets, huh? You just pummelled Beat up just to protect me?"

"Yes, I did that protect you. Anyway, both he and Neku deserve that for hurting and insulting you while playing the Game. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, Eri," Shiki seems to understanding in me about all this. "I know how you feel. In fact, it's one of the things you needed when becoming an activist, right?"

She cheered me up by just saying those words. I guess she's a good friend after all. How lucky I am.

"Yeah," I replied. Next, I changed the subject of our conversation. "The timer!"

We looked at our right hands to see how much time we got left to complete out mission. Looks like we got 210 minutes left.

"To the concert?" I asked.

"To the concert," Shiki replied.

And so, here's another running spree in Shibuya to get to the concert stage at A-East.


	16. Week 2, Day 5 part 4: 104 and Dogenzaka

From Scramble Crossing, we go to 104 Building. I gotta say this part of town is really a good place for meetings; it's a popular place for young residents of Shibuya like me. As I take a look at Shiki, she looks really perplexed. _I wonder._

"Just so you know, I bought an outfit from this section of town," I said.

"So I heard," she replied back.

_Just as I thought._ My thoughts exactly.

"You saw me going to this part of town, didn't you? On your sixth day in the Game?" I looked at my friend to see her expression at her face being down. Therefore, I come close to her and tried to give her the courage the answer this question. "Please, answer truthfully, Shiki."

"Yes," she finally replied. Then she added, "I saw you talking to Mina in this place about you giving up being a designer. I heard you were going to talk about me, but I ran away."

_You ran away, huh?_ I thought about that statement.

"I knew it."

"Huh?"

I continue on, "I knew I had a reason why I should have that kind of conversation in the Scramble Crossing. I'm getting suspicious that the "mysterious force", which I didn't know until now that it's you, is watching me. My plan is to get you to stop ruining my death wish plans by listening to my statement. But anyway, it's just a lucky guess you were going to listen to my conversation to this part of town."

"And you're just lucky that you're right, Eri. I'm there, but you can't see me."

I replied jokingly, "Yeah, if only I wish I had seen you on that day."

As we're about to head to the next part, there are two ways, not to mention two Reapers. It means when we approach either of them, we're gonna have a challenge on our hands. It's either an errand to give him something in return or a fight with some Noise. I always prefer more over the latter. Anyway, despite what that type of Reaper is thinking, I'm not someone's errand girl.

"So, which way do you think we should go?"

"I say we go to the left," Shiki replied. "Besides, that's a short way to A-East."

"If you say so."

I knew that as soon as we head this way, we have a challenge on our hands.

"Want past this wall?" says the Reaper. "Beat this set of Noise."

Looks like we got ourselves a fight on our hands. Anyway, the Noise we're going to confront is a rhino lookalike. It's descriptions includes having orange marks and black armor. If I'm gonna take down that kind of monster, I'm gonna need a level 3 Fusion. Then the only way to do that is to get 3 stars. For a while, I have to make use of my bullet and blade pins while Shiki makes the use of Mr. Mew. I just want to know what he does when we make that kind of attack. Despite both of our efforts, we get damages coming out of this monster, but we're still okay. We continuously attack it for how about 18 times. Once the Fusion is ready, then it's time to test it out. The next time I'm going to witness is Mr. Mew going all Godzilla and shooting lasers from his eyes while Shiki and I are standing on his shoulders. Luckily, this attack is so strong that rhino is erased.

"So, did we pass?" I asked. The look on that Reaper's face is really priceless; he looks surprised.

"Okay, you two can pass," he removes the wall blocking our way, then just disappears into thin air.

Move on to the next way, Dogenzaka. This place is really known for Ramen since there's competition between Ramen Don and Shadow Ramen. If there's competition between them, I pick the former. Enough about that. We just walk out of this place as we headed straight to the A-East.


	17. Week 2, Day 5 part 5: Kariya and Uzuki

The A-East, the part of town where there is some concert. Just when I thought this day couldn't get any supernatural, we came across with two Reapers. One is male and orange haired, and the other is female and pink haired. As they face and walk up to us, I got the feeling trouble is onto us.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," said the Reaper to our left. Judging by his behavior, he's looking calm, not to mention calculating. "My name is Kori Kariya, and this is my partner, Uzuki Yashiro."

"That's my name!" the Reaper to our right giggles. This is one creepy girl, not to mention she's really crazy.

Just then, Shiki started tapping on my right shoulder. I got the feeling she might know those guys. I wonder, did they attacked her or something? If so, I'll just them a total beat down they should never forget.

"The Reaper on your right," she started to yell. "That's her! She's the one who tried to get Neku to erase me!"

This really sparks my anger as I'm about to face Uzuki. "Is that true? You made him try to kill my friend?"

"What if I am that culprit?" Uzuki attempts to avoid my statement. I should have known.

"Don't you play dumb with me, Uzuki! I know you did it!"

"So you believe your friend, huh?" she started to insult me with this kind of statement.

"Of course I do," I put my arm in front of Shiki, a sign of defending her from this Reaper, the one who tries to manipulate a new friend of hers to kill her while in the Game. "Besides, I'm her best friend, and you made a big mistake of hurting her."

Uzuki knows what I'm talking about. "So you wanna fight with me for what I did, huh? Too bad I'm not gonna; we're under orders to standby. And besides, we saw your fight with Freshmeat."

"Freshmeat?" I was sounded confuse of whom they referred to. "Who is he?"

Kariya then replies, "You know, the one whom you stomp repeatedly in the back and head."

_I stomp this guy repeatedly?_ I thought._ I know who they are talking about._

"It's Beat, isn't it?"

I gotta say Kariya knows how to act calmly. "Yeah, that's right, little girl. You are acting like a psycho on that day for doing such act, not to mention you look scary when you get mad."

"You don't say," I said sarcastically. "Well, we should get going to complete our mission."

But still...

"Same here," Uzuki left with her partner. However, as soon as they turn around, I run and kick Uzuki from behind. As she falls to the ground and looked at me, I was really angry at her for making one of Shiki's new friends kill her just to get out of the Game. Well, not on my watch as I'm about to confront the mastermind who did this. She stands up and is really angry. "So you want to fight, huh? Okay, let's fight!" As she started to make a punch on me, I blocked it with my left hand and I punch her in the face with my right hand. Obviously, she's not giving up so she makes the move of punching me again, but I easily dodge that and punch her right breast. I also punch her left breast.

While she's in pain, I grab her and said, "You're gonna pay for trying to kill my best friend!" I spin her like a circle for around seven times before I toss her to the sky; a star appears afterwards. Then I turn to face Kariya. "You know, you're not involved with this, so just leave."

And so he does...

"Now that's been taken care of, Shiki, we should go to the dark part of the concert."

"Yeah, we should," she said.

As she lead me to where this dark part of the concert, the timer obviously disappeared from my hand. I gotta say mission complete.

"I gotta say this part of the concert is really amazing," I said.

"Well, I went there with Neku on my third in the Game," she gets her cellphone and turns it on to see the wallpaper. It's a picture of me and Shiki. Come to think of it, the latter in the picture is the real Shiki I once know. What bothers me of seeing this picture is that her eyes are hidden, but nevertheless, I know what her eyes truly like before she took on my form in the Game. "Neku found this picture of us, and he thinks the girl on the right is you, Eri."

"Really?" I was getting curious on this subject. I just can't believe she made Neku think I'm Shiki. "But he found out that you don't really look like this, right?"

"That's right," was her reply. "Therefore, the girl on the picture to the right is really me."

I said, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Like I said, I know what you really look like before you died and went into the Game. Come to think of it, what bothers me when I see this picture is your eyes are hidden, but I know what your eyes truly look like. The truth is... I miss you, Shiki."

"I miss you too, Eri," she replied.

"If I'm not mistaken, once we win the Game, you'll go back to the way you were, right? As in back to your own body?"

"Yeah, something like that."

I'm so relief to hear that kind of news. So now that we completed the mission for this day, I'm guessing we move on to the next day.


	18. Week 2, Day 6 part 1: About the Composer

The sixth day... I gotta say one more day to go, and then Shiki and I are so back to the land of the living. Anyway, as I looked at the place we're going to wake up, it's the 104 Building. That reminds me. Yesterday, I told Shiki that I got some outfit from this part of town. It turns out that while in her sixth day in the Game, she saw me and Mina talking about how I gave up designing; this is because of her death. She ran away because I was going to talk about what I said to her: "You're not meant to be a designer". Luckily, I'm smart enough to know that she's watching me that I changed the place where I should talk to Mina about what I had to say.

If only I wish I had seen her on that day...

Well, enough about that. As of now, I'm thinking about something that I should know about.

"What are you thinking about, Eri?" Shiki asked me from behind. Looks like she's awake now.

"I can't help but think about this mysterious character, Shiki," I replied.

"Who?"

"The Composer, that's who," I replied thoughtfully. I remembered that he is an enigmatic character.

Shiki thoughtfully asked me, "Have you thought something about him?"

"Besides the fact that he leads the Reapers since he's their boss, I thought about the Reapers' Game; of it's objective."

"What is it?" my best friend is really getting interested with this. I'm just glad we're talking about this topic.

I replied happily with an explanation, "I think this Game is about changing our attitudes with each other. For instance, an antisocial person get sent into it. At first, he's a total meanie, but as soon as he progresses to it, he has become nice. When he acts as that person in the Game, he'll be like that when he returns to the land of the living."

"I know an example," Shiki answered. "It's Neku."

"Exactly," I replied. "That's what he'll be like when he comes back to life."

"But why would the Composer wants us to change?"

"I think he has noticed there's something that's not right with all of us. I think it's the element, evil."

"The element, evil?"

"Yeah, that's it. This is what every human being has. They can either be good or evil. That means if he noticed this in all of us with all his power, then he's a god."

As Shiki thought of all this, I get a feeling she already knew that. Of course, it's obvious that she went in the Game before me.

"Well, we have the same thoughts about him," she said.

"If he's a god, then that must mean he has power to the country we live on, Shibuya," I provided more answer to this mystery. "Wait. When a god noticed this power, and it's about changing us, that means... I got it!"

"What? What is it?"

"I figured out what the Composer is planning. He's planning to destroy the Shibuya! That way, the evil influence in this city can't be spread around the world! I have to admit it, the Composer may have good intentions, but his method is really bad."

Shiki agrees with me on this one. "Yeah, same here."

I explained, "That means we have to stop him before he destroys the city we live on with everybody in it."

"But how can we do that?" she started asking me this question. I already thought of an answer to this one. "The Composer can be anyone."

"Well, I thought of some suspects, but I only thought of one," I replied.

"Who?"

"Joshua," I replied.

As I know Shiki, she could try to counteract my statement. Besides, she thinks that I got the wrong person of making an accusation.

"Joshua? That's impossible. He's helping Neku," she attacks my statement.

"Really?" I defend my statement. "Well, if I know the Composer, he's a god. Therefore, a god can take any form even a teenage boy."

I looked at Shiki. The look on her face says that she doesn't have any other statements to counteract this one.

"Oh... I never thought of that," she said.

"Hey, looks can be deceiving. Besides, his smug attitude is the reason I suspect him," I explained even more. "Here's another thing that's deceiving, Shiki. It's the motives that's deceiving. You never know if the person's reason could be true or not. Oh, I just thought of an example, and that is before we went in the Reapers' Game. Tell me, Shiki, when I said, 'You're not meant to be a designer', what do you think was my motive?"

Oh no, I just asked her this question. I don't know if she could answer this because this event really brings us worries. As Shiki opens her mouth, she really has an answer.

"I thought you're fed up with me because I never had your talent," was her reply.

"You see? That's an example that motives can really be deceiving," I explained, then I ask her the question. "So answer my question. What is my real motive? You answer this since you watched me on that day."

She opens her mouth and say the words she needed to say. "You said that because I couldn't come up with a design."

"That's right," I hugged Shiki to give her comfort from this, and then I let go. We're still talking about the Composer. "Got any leads on how can we get to the Composer?"

"I saw one Reaper and his name is Megumi Kitaniji," she replied. "He's the Composer's right hand man, if I'm not mistaken."

"So that means we get to him, then we'll get to the Composer and stop him from accomplish his plan of annihilating all of us."

Suddenly, our phones ring. Not only that, we get a timer on our right hands. We read the message on our phones, "Head to Cat Street. You got 120 minutes. Failed, and you will face erasure - The Reapers."

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm ready, Eri," Shiki replied.

Let the day begin...


	19. Week 2, Day 6 part 2: Scolding the Noise

Now, as we run towards the Scramble Crossing, we have crossed paths with a Reaper. Not just any Reaper, but it's none other than Kenzo Hiryu, the Game Master for this week. Anyway, as Shiki said, a Game Master is the Reaper who's in charge of things for the week.

"Hello, Mr. Hiryu," I said in a distrustful, baleful voice.

"Hello, Eri," my enemy replied back to me in a falsely jovial voice.

"What gives? What are you doing here?" I asked in curiosity. If I'm not mistaken, Shiki and I will fight him in the seventh day. Speaking of that day, that day is tomorrow.

He replied, "Well, I just came here to see if you two are getting any progress, and I was right."

"Yeah, we got progress alright," I said in a casual voice. "We've been training hard to get stronger and kick your butt so that we can win the Game and get our lives back. Isn't that right, Shiki?"

"Yeah, what she said," my friend replied with determination inside her.

"Really?" Mr. Hiryu said in a sinister tone in his voice. I could say this is not really good. "Well, let's see how do you like it when I get more Noise to beat the crap out of you two!"

As he raises his hand, he summoned some Noise and it's pigs. There are eight of them; four of them are flesh-colored while the other four are pink-colored.

_How cute is that? Pigs as Noise? I guess the afterlife is also wackier when I thought about it._ I thought.

"Now, let the battle begin!" shouts Mr. Hiryu. He's right, the battle begins.

This should be simple. I thought about using a level 2 Fusion, but I decided not to do it anyway. Besides, I'm thinking of saving those Fusions when Shiki and I kick Mr. Hiryu's butt. For now, I just stick to my ice pins, and as usual, Shiki will have to use Mr. Mew to do her fighting. A stuffed animal coming to life to fight your battles for you? It's really cute. Now, focusing on the battle, I froze the pig on my right. As it breaks free to attack me, I got out of the way and do it again, but I simply defeated it. As for Shiki, she gets damage from the attacks of those pigs, but I bet she got those other two. Speaking of getting damage, I got hit by a pink pig. I retaliate on that hit by using a small piece of ice to damage it and I did the same thing to the other pink pig. Now, I make the use of the ice pillars on those flesh-colored pigs, while Shiki makes the use of Mr. Mew to get the damage on this colored pigs as well. So, we win. I've been busy with the battles so much I haven't realize my pins are high on level. I could tell it's level 6. Anyway, what else can I do? Punch those Noise? I don't think so. These are pins are my weapons for battle.

Despite the fact we won, there are still a lot of those Pig Noises.

"Well, what can you do to beat all of these Noise?" asked Mr. Hiryu.

As Shiki and I take a look at them, it's far too many to get a beat down.

"This has gone too far," I said focusing my attention to Shiki. "I know how to beat them, but it's so really embarassing."

"What is it?" she asked in curiosity.

I took a deep breath. "You wanna know what I'm gonna do, huh?"

"Yeah, I want to," was her reply.

"Here goes," I took a deep breath as my expression changes into being angry. "That's enough!"

As I yell, the Pig Noise started to react on this one. I guess that worked out. That's right, this is the embarassing move I'm talking about; I'm scolding them.

I continued, "I've about had it with your mischief! You creatures should know better than making mischief out of everyone's lives around here! Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?!" The Pig Noise are froze by this and look scared.

"Really? Scolding them?" Shiki asks me if this gonna work. "Like that'll ever work. Besides, I tried that to some Noise,and it doesn't work out."

Mr. Hiryu looks at them as if he's trying to communicate with them. The pigs are making the oink sounds, but I heard he is saying "yes" on some points. So, that mean's he can understand what they're saying.

"They said they won't do it again."

"Huh? No way," Shiki couldn't believe that my trick worked as I expected.

"They also said, your friend is so scary. We don't want her to get mad with us again so we'll be good from now on."

"Okay, you promised," I said. "Now go home."

And they did as they left.

"Well, this is something that I didn't expect," Mr. Hiryu remarks on the Pig Noise leaving the area. Then, he focuses his attention on us. "So, you got progress alright, Eri. I'll see you and your best friend for tomorrow as I'll fight you two for the final battle of your lives."

"Yeah, see you there," I casually said it. "Call me where the place where you wanna fight."

"I will," he left with a evil smile on his face. When I see him next time, I'm gonna leave footprints on his face.

Shiki compliments on what happened to make the Noise go away. "I gotta admit it, Eri. You made quite a move on them. I find that very humorous."

"Yeah," I replied back happily. "In fact, before I got into the Game, I beat up some bad guys as their punishment for their misdeeds. I just couldn't let them get away with what they have done. Instead of just letting the police arrest them, I just let them run away with scared looks on their faces. Looks like they finally got what's coming to them."

"Really? Give me an example."

As I looked at my right hand, it shows we got 110 minutes left in the timer to complete this mission.

"Okay, I'll tell you. At another place, that is. Pick one, Shiki."

"I pick the Shibu Department Store, Eri."

"And that's our next stop."

We headed to Shibu Department Store so I could tell her of what had happened when I was alive. I say it's a very interesting story.


	20. Week 2, Day 6 part 3: Talk to a God

Here we are at the Shibu Department Store. It's about time for me to tell this interesting story to Shiki.

"Tell me, right after you saw me, you just moved on to the next day?" I asked to know if she saw what I'm doing after talking to Mina.

"Yes," was her reply.

"It's about time I tell you of what I've been doing after I talked to Mina on that day," my story starts.

Flashback begins.

_Right after talking to Mina, I decided to go to my best friend's grave. Good thing I got my paying money for doing activist work. So I buy a bouquet of red roses. As I headed to the gravestone I'm supposed to go, I placed the flowers on the ground and I prayed that Shiki heard those words in the afterlife. Just then, trouble has come to me as four criminals came by in motorcycles trying to run past me. I jumped past them, but as I landed, the bouquet of roses is ruined. I picked up one of the red roses, but it just broke down. This really made me mad. Those people are ruining my visit and Shiki can't rest peacefully from that.  
><em>

_As I decided to get payback on those people, I don't seemed to know where are they going. Because of that, I'm gonna have to go into the police station to get some answers. Too bad I'm not allowed to go to the offices, only in the waiting room. As a result, I activated a fire alarm in order to let them out for a while. As they left, I sneak into an office to see if I could get a file to find out those people who have ruined my visit to Shiki's grave. I locked the door so they police wouldn't try to get in. I know it's going yo be for a while as some would try to break it open. As I searched the file, I found out who are those people. It's the same thief who tries to rob Funky Fashion. This time, she had two goons helping her. That is so outrageous. I know that a police officer would come here, so I escape from the window. Luckily, I found where the location is: a subway.  
><em>

_I walked in there not looking in the eye of those three. I knew they would follow me to the ladies' restroom so I let them. I washed my hands inside.  
><em>

_"Hey, is that some new hat?" the thief started asking me.  
><em>

_"Oh, is it?" I turned around to see her. As she looked at me, she had fear in her eyes.  
><em>

_"It's you! You're that crazy girl I encountered in Funky Fashion!" she pulls out a gun and points it at my direction.  
><em>

_"Yeah, that's right," I replied calmly. "So, does that gun have real bullets?"  
><em>

_"Huh?"  
><em>

_Suddenly, I managed to land a punch on her face as I grab her gun and toss it aside.  
><em>

_"Now let's see if you can fight without your gun."  
><em>

_"So you want to see that, huh? Okay!" the woman is about to make a punch before me, but I just grab her wrist and pin her down to the ground. While I do this, her goons started calling me crazy for such act.  
><em>

_"Okay, listen to me, you dirt bags," I put my foot on the bad girl's back as I pulled out a bouquet of flowers they ruined at my visit to Shiki's grave. "What is this? What happened to my bouquet? Do you know why my bouquet is place on some grave? Answer me!"  
><em>

_The goon on my left answers in cowardice. "I'm not sure how to put it, but it's for some girl who died in some accident."  
><em>

_"That's right!" I kick her in the face and she fell to the ground. Only the one on my right is standing. "Since you know about it, tell me why my bouquet is ruined, huh?"  
><em>

_"Well, we were riding out motorcycles because we thought it might be fun to ruin it, right?" was her reply as she looks scared. I can't believe that kind of thing. That's so atrocious.  
><em>

_"Exactly," I said as I extend my hand and try to make it look like Shiki is on my side. "That's why you goons owe this girl an apology."  
><em>

_"We do?" the goon in my right asked. As soon as she and the others look at me, they can't seem confused. "How? Apologize to who?"  
><em>

_"Didn't you hear me? I said, apologize!" I yell in anger.  
><em>

_The three said it altogether, "We're sorry! We'll never do it again! Just don't hurt us, please!"  
><em>

_That feels better for me. Hey, I even stomp on my foot in anger so that they could run away from me, finally getting their comeuppance for ruining my visit to Shiki's grave.  
><em>

Then the flashback ends.

"That's quite a story, Eri," Shiki complements my story.

"Yeah," I replied. "I couldn't let anyone ruin that moment, so I decided to do something about it."

"Oh..." my friend complements.

I changed the subject. "Now that we're in Shibu Department Store, I'm thinking of getting something."

We entered the store. The only I'm buying in there is a pink ribbon. As we walked off, we see Neku and Joshua have entered as well. Just as I expected.

"Shiki," I started. "Can you hide somewhere where those two can't find you?"

"Why? Are you going to have a private conversation with any of them?" she asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you about there is something's definitely wrong with that kid Neku's been partnered with," was my reply. Now that Shiki goes into hiding, it's time for the conversation to begin. I approached to the two boys. "Hello there, Neku, and Joshua."

As they look at me, they look nervous. Or maybe curious about me since the last time I met them.

"Hi, Neku, Joshua," I talked with happiness, but at the same disdain to those two. I already know Neku won't do something bad to Shiki again, and I take focus on Joshua. I gotta say, he's a snotty kid.

"Hi, Eri," Neku said in cowardice.

"Same here," Joshua said in not only in a snotty tone, but also in a disdain tone.

I said, "So, can I talk to you privately, Joshua?"

He replied, "Well, considering you want to do so, okay."

I decided to take him to some place private where Neku won't see what I'm going to do to him.

"Okay, Eri, what do you want to talk about?" Joshua wonders. Before he knows it, I swing my ribbon in circles 6 times before I use it to trap him. "What's this all about?" he asks in an angry manner.

"I'm sorry, but I know fully well you don't want to discuss this topic with me, so I'm gonna have to pin you down," I reply.

"What do you want to talk about?"

This is the moment he'll never forget of. I explained, "You know, when I first met you, I have suspicious about you. You're a smart individual, but at the same time, you're arrogant. I have a gut feeling that there's something's not right with you. Before you know it, my suspicions about you could be right or wrong. However, I'm sure my suspicions about you is right, anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Joshua asks me. He sure wants to know what I'm really saying to him.

"You're the Composer," was my answer.

"Do you have proof?" Joshua asked me in a sly manner. How cunning that guy really is.

"No proof," I replied calmly. "But you know, people don't pay me to crack cases like this for nothing."

Joshua can't fight a way out of this one. "What do you want, Eri?"

"Let it go. You got to forget about destroying Shibuya," I said this as the topic I wanted to talk about.

"What?" Joshua really looks angry when I said it. Just as I thought.

"Believe me, when I was alive, I watched movies to see some characters who feel the same way you do," my explanation starts. "Trust me, for those who wanted to destroy a country because of thinking there's a corrupt influence that could spread around the world, it never ends well. For those people who wanted to do something like that is an extremist and happens to be the real villain of the story. I know how the story between a hero and villain works, Joshua. The hero always wins over the villain. Looks like I found something very interesting around here and it's Neku versus you. You're just gonna lose anyway. Even if you succeed in "erasing" Shibuya, what would you have then? Nothing. Emptiness."

As I looked at Joshua, he looks angry at this. It's nice to see his smug smile off his face for a while as this is really an annoyance to me.

"Shut up! What makes you know anything about it?! You're all just talk so you have no idea!"

I said calmly, "Why don't take it easy? Try to calm down, would you?"

Before I know it, Joshua is making an evil smile on his face as he tries counteract my statement. It's as if he's going to threaten me. "You know what, Eri? Maybe if I was to erase the most important people in your life, the people who meant anything to you. That's the time when I'm going to listen to you because you know how I feel."

"Hmm," I pondered as I looked calm. "That's a very interesting theory, but you're a little late to make something like that. The people that you are talking is already erased, you know."

I looked at Joshua's reaction to this statement and he gasps in shock. Looks like he can't fight back anymore.

"You know, I've seen my share of troubles. The truth is, you're not the only who knows what people are like in this country. I just wish people would change their ways. Besides, Joshua, there are people out there who disagree with what you're doing and I think Mr. H is one of those examples. Tell me, does he disagree?"

Joshua has answered this question truthfully. "Yes, Eri. He disagrees."

I continued as I keep my eyes on Joshua. This statement I said to him really made his anger disappear. "So, it looks like neither of us lead a charmed life, have we? Besides, my life went into chaos after my best friend died and sent here."

"What do you mean?" Joshua wants to know this story.

"Well, after Shiki's death, I don't have a reason to live anymore so I become an activist just to try and find my death wish," I told him. "Unfortunately, I was foiled in getting my way. I don't know who or what it is but I'm not giving up on my death wish. I did all this so that I can see Shiki again. Last week, I found it already and I'm in the Game. Before you know it, I meet Shiki again and I did it. I looked happy. My story has meaning. Do you know what that is?"

"It means we have friends to help us fill the void," Joshua is about to find and learn his lesson in a very good way.

"Exactly," I let him go from the grip of the ribbon. "Anyway, I do know how you feel. I know why you are doing all this, I know you're just trying to get all of us to change our ways. Then again, if I know something about human beings, they can either be good or evil by nature. Just so you know, not everybody is born evil. You are a god, therefore you got awesome power. Have you ever heard the phrase, 'with great power comes great responsibility'?"

"Yeah, I know what that means," Joshua replied back.

I continued my explanation. "So you know, huh? Looks like you're not your power responsibly. You just waste on manipulate others for your needs in destroying Shibuya. Well, it's not a power to be used against comrades or to destroy something. I think in your heart of hearts, you should know what it can be used for. Besides, if you need to find someone who can change so that you can see that Shibuya can change, it's Neku. On his first week, he is antisocial, but before you know it at the end of the week, he's slowly went to good. Okay, end of discussion. It's up to you to decide which is right."

As I left, I saw how Joshua is really having the words I said come into his mind. With Neku around, I'm sure he'll change his mind and let my words sink deeper in him. Besides, he's proof that he can change Shibuya for the better. I walk off with Shiki.

"Did you have to do that Joshua?" she asks me.

"Well, yeah," I answered smoothly.

"And you still think he's the Composer?"

"I'm sure am," I replied back to my friend. It looks like she has doubts about it so I decided to cheer her up. "Look, you don't have to believe me. Just see this to the end and you'll know I'm right."

"Okay," Shiki said smiling.

So off to our destination...


	21. Week 2, Day 6 part 4: End of the Day

As usual, Shiki and I run for our lives as we headed to Cat Street. Now that we're at Shibu Department Store, I'd say five districts to get there. We just passed through Cadoi City. Upon heading to Towa Records, I decided to have a stop as I activated the Player Pin. I got to say, it attracts some Noise for us to fight against.

The Noise we have to fight against in the first round are two red bats and two purple bats. How interesting. Anyway, while Shiki makes use of Mr. Mew to do the fighting, I make use the pin that allows me to swing a large blade. Without having a hard time, I manage to defeat them so does Shiki. Second round begins; this time it's a group of yellow creatures, and there are two right in front of us. This time, I use my ice pin to freeze them and the pin that can make ice pillars rise to give additional damage. With teamwork, we beat them down.

Now, back to running to Cat Street. We take up running to Towa Records, Miyashita Park, and finally, to Cat Street. First, we have to check out our hands to see if the timer is gone. It is gone.

"Well, that went well," I commented.

"Bra-vo," a voice suddenly said with clapping. I know who it is. We turn around to see it's Mr. Hiryu. Judging by the way he said 'bravo' and the clapping, that's sarcasm.

"What do you want?" I said angrily as I put up a fighting stance in case.

"I just want to congratulate you and your friend here that you two manage to survive this day," was his reply.

"Right," I don't buy it as I admitted what I think he's doing. "Judging the way you said 'bravo' and the clapping, that's sarcasm."

"Well, you got me, alright," Mr. Hiryu laughed then gets serious. "Anyway, see you two tomorrow."

Then he just walked away. If I know something about bad guys, they would just gloat on the heroes on something before leaving. That's one event I would keep in my mind.

"Well, that's one conversation I would like to keep in mind," I commented.

"Yeah," Shiki also agreed.

I asked her, "So, ready for tomorrow, Shiki?"

"Yes, I'm ready, Eri," she said in a determined way.

"That's what I really want to hear."

And so we just blacked out as the next day comes by. I just can't believe what happens next after the mission is complete for the day.


	22. Week 2, Day 7 part 1: Resolve

Just when I thought my day could have gone worse, I'm still in the Reapers' Game. Anyway, I'm just looking calm as ever because I got used of death. I've seen death in my life. Before I got in the Game, I manage to take potshots out of bad guys as an activist. All for this moment to come by.

Anyway, this is the seventh and final day in the Game. I'm hoping this is the right rule. I recall on what happened yesterday. I told Joshua, or should I say the Composer and I don't have any doubts about it, our lives aren't so charmed. Hey, at least both of us have friends to help fill the void on that. For my case, I got Shiki and for Joshua, it's Neku. I hope he can get an understanding in this; I know how he feels, he's just wanting to make Shibuya better, but by attempting to destroy it, he's not making it better.

"So, Eri, are you ready for this day to come by?" Shiki started to ask me.

As I looked around my surroundings, it looks like we woke up in the Statue of Hachiko. _How nice._ It's nice to be waking up in this kind of place. After all, Shiki and I really know how to make this as one of our known spots for visiting whenever we cross our paths.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I replied in an assuring way to her, but I'm a little down.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern, holding me in my shoulder.

"I'm okay. It's just that we're in the final day in the Game," was my reply. "And I want to say thank you for helping me."

"Hey, you helped me, too. You said that you wanted me back. You're my reason for wanting to go back to the land of the living," Shiki stated and she's right.

"Yeah, you're right. You're my reason for the same thing," I said in happiness as I take a hold of her hands. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from Mr. Hiryu if he tries to make any threats on you."

"Okay," she said in a timid way, but I noticed that because she's learning some lessons in the Game, that timidness of hers is no more. She's still the Shiki I know of.

In a matter of seconds, we check out on our cellphones to see that we have a mission for today. It reads "The Game Master wishes to see the two of you in A-East. You got 600 minutes. Fail, then face erasure - The Reapers". How lovely it is for them to send us a message like that. Of course, I was being sarcastic on that one.

"So, to the A-East?" Shiki asked.

"To the A-East," I replied happily.

Then we started to run to the spots of city to get through A-East. Anyway, both of us got each other's backs so there's nothing to worry about.


	23. Week 2, Day 7 part 2: Reassurance

As we run to the Scramble Crossing as the first step in heading to the A-East, I decided to put up a fight with some Noise so I activated the Player Pin to attract their attention. Then we got ourselves with a fight against a group of Noise. I could say it's some frog-type of Noise again. Like the same, I make use my ice pins while Shiki has Mr. Mew to count on the punches and kicks for her. When we're done, it was the end of the first round. Then, the second round came; this time, it's two wolves. One is golden haired while the other is a black-haired. Hey, not only with the use of our powers really beat those monsters, but also teamwork. Anyway, our work is done.

Next, we run into the 104 Building as the next part of the map into getting into our destination. We just past there, but we stopped because I noticed my best friend is going down to the ground.

"Shiki, what's wrong?" I asked while trying to get her up.

"Nothing, Eri. I was just thinking of something bad is going to happen with Mr. Hiryu," she said in wonder. She looks fine, but I could feel she is worried about something. As her friend, I wanted to know what it is.

"Come on, Shiki. I can tell there is something wrong. You can tell me. I'm your friend," I walked as I carry her with her arm behind my neck.

"Okay, I'm worried for you. I don't know if you can understand of how to fight against a Reaper who might transform into a bigger monster for us to fight against," she replied.

As I thought about it, she's right. I could never imagine on how Mr. Hiryu might have become. Surely, he's shrewd and cunning, but with him transforming into a big monster, it's going to be difficult outsmarting him. Hey, at least he lacked something: teamwork.

"I'm worried for you, too. I mean, you only have Mr. Mew to fight your battles for you. You can count on me. I can protect you."

"You can?" Shiki asked.

"Let me say this again. Thank you, Shiki, for showing me an interesting world and that is the Reapers' Game," I replied happily with a smile on my face.

My statement really surprised her. In a few seconds, she puts a little smile on her face.

"At least we got each other, right, Eri?" she said while I stopped carrying her.

"Yeah, let's go."

Anyway, we continue on at Dogenzaka as the second to the last part of the map going to the A-East. If Mr. Hiryu is going to turn into a monster to fight us, I hope it's not too much of a scare. Despite what he will become, our teamwork will defeat him for sure.


	24. Week 2, Day 7 part 3: Not Stealth Entry

As soon as Shiki and I went to A-East, we saw some Reapers are guarding the section, so we come up with an idea in a form of a disguise. I was wearing a trenchcoat I bought from the other day and use it while Shiki acts like a statue to keep them off our backs.

"We have to assume they're coming here to take down the Game Master," one of the Reapers stated while he and his buddy are looking for us. "There's a redhead girl, and her twin sister. Her twin should be easily overlooked so stay in precaution."

How I hate being called her twin sister just because she took on my appearance in the Game. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist, looking angry at this.

"That can't be her," the other Reaper turns to my attention while not trying to look at them in the eye. "That girl we were looking for was her clone."

I also hate being called her clone just because she's me in the Game. I was getting angry at this, but I tried to stop myself from attacking them for this kind of statement.

"Hey, you two!" the third Reaper called in. "There is a figure that looks like the redheaded girl!"

I calmed down as soon as I hear this news. This is not good.

"Then, let's crack it open just in case!" that Reaper and the other two left.

I got to save Shiki from being pummeled by them. As soon as they're going to use a mallet on her, I make use of my icy pin to freeze one of them, saving her life.

"Hey, aren't you girl with a trenchcoat?" the Reaper asked before he sees my disguise has been removed. "You're her twin sister!"

I was angry at this, so I clenched my fist. But now's not the time for that...

"Shiki, let's go!" I exclaimed as I started.

"Okay, Eri!" she runs off with me.

As we run for our lives, we saw the Reapers are running from behind.

"I'll stop this," I said as I activate my pin to put an icy barrier, then I continue my run. "That was a close call."

"It is, Eri," Mr. Hiryu shows up in front of us.

"Mr. Hiryu..." I said with disdain.

"So, you went here in time."

"And we're going to take you down," I put up a good fighting pose against him.

"Yeah, that's right!" Shiki exclaimed, then turns to me. "That's a nice pose."

"Thanks," I feel complimented.

"Very well, you two should feel my power!" Mr. Hiryu has some dark aura surrounding him, and this is not good.

"Ready, Shiki?" I asked my best friend.

"Ready, Eri!" was her reply.

We are ready to battle this creep, and earn back our freedom.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm sorry. I'm busy with my other fanfics.<br>**


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